In 1689 Matsuo Basho, one of Japan's greatest poets, began an 800 mile journey through the remote northern provinces of his country to the Sacred Mountains. His account of the journey became "The Narrow Road to the Deep North", a classic of Japanese literature. This modern travelogue, inspired by Basho's work, took the author through parts of rural Japan to discover a world and a way of life which most Japanese believe has vanished forever. She encountered people who had never met a Westerner before, stayed with them in their villages, dined on snakes and grasshoppers and finally she too arrived at the Sacred Mountains. The book is a unique record of a lost Japan that is a world away from the high-tech society most Westerners imagine and of a culture that may not long survive the rapid industrialization that is sweeping Japan. Lesley Downer writes on Japanese matters for the "Independent", the "Daily Telegraph" and "The Sunday Times" newspapers, and is the author of "Travellers' Guide to Japan", "Step by Step Japanese Cookery" and "Japanese Food and Drink".
