From a Travel Diary

A sea voyage toward Germany becomes a sequence of intensely observed encounters: gulls over muddy water near Shanghai, jewel-like lights on Hong Kong’s mountain, musicians collecting coins beside Port Said, and the haunting ruins of Pompeii. Terada Torahiko follows sights and sounds with the curiosity of a scientist and the sensitivity of an essayist.

Traveling in 1909, he records shipboard friendships, multilingual conversations, children’s celebrations, music, heat, fatigue, and moments of unexpected homesickness. The passage through the Red Sea and Suez Canal gives way to Italy and the Alpine railway before the journey ends in Berlin, where anticipation meets exhaustion.

Published in ten installments in 1920 and 1921, these excerpts preserve both the immediacy of the diary and later recollection. This complete English translation includes every dated entry and publication line, with notes explaining foreign phrases, geographical names, unusual spellings, historical descriptions, and the narrator’s period social judgments. AI-assisted translation.