The charm of Meio Kappa travel book

When I first read "Looking into India" by Meio Kappa, I thought it was a book written by a Japanese girl. Firstly, because of the name; secondly, there were many details in the book that made people mistakenly think of Meio Kappa. It's a girl. Later I learned that it was originally written by an accomplished Japanese old man.

The books I read this time are "Peering into Europe" and "The Kappa Miscellaneous Room". There are many sketches in the books, which require the author's quick memory and observation skills. For example, "Peering into Europe" was a book written by the author decades ago, but the author made live sketches of train conductors from various countries in it, and compared the different details between them, such as the differences in medals, the length of their collars, etc. Because an environment is fixed and can be drawn slowly, and people move around, so the time for observation is only a little. Therefore, the author's sketching skills are impressive and make people envious of how good people who can write and draw are!

In the author's book, what I see is that a person's curiosity has nothing to do with age. As long as you have a strong curiosity, it will arouse people's vitality. When the author said in "Peering into India" He is already 60 years old, but he still has a strong passion for experiencing different customs and customs. During the trip, he learned from chatting with other tourists that there were a lot of mosquitoes in the cheap hotels, which bitten a lot of bags, and there were no bathrooms. The Meio Kappa actually went there to experience it for one night. Although he was covered in mosquito bites, the author still felt I sketched a picture of a cheap hotel room and learned what the differences are between hotels in foreign countries.

In "Peering into Europe", Meio Kappa traveled to various countries and stayed in train sleepers in various countries. Not only did he draw them, but he also experienced sleepers of various grades. The author believes that sleepers only provide a place to rest. , it doesn’t have to be expensive. Although it is the author's travel experience many years ago, when we read this book, we feel as if we have experienced it ourselves.

It is said that Japanese people pay great attention to details, especially those who love to draw. When Meio Kappa was sketching in the train, other passengers thought he was here to investigate the train! When they learned that painting was the author's hobby, many people were both impressed and envious. After all, if you don’t record the things you travel, you may forget them as time goes by. Therefore, being able to write, draw, and take photos is to preserve the memories of travel and allow yourself to remember the insights and touches brought by travel.

Last year I read a travel diary written by a young Japanese man. The writing was lively and witty, and a bit measured.

In contrast, Meio Kappa's books are more serious and have the flavor of popularizing knowledge. For example, "Kappa Miscellaneous Room" talks about the background knowledge and cultural inheritance of the places the author sees.

I like Meio Kappa’s books very much. Although they are a bit old, classics are not afraid of the test of time.