An intelligent, observant and extremely inquisitive free lance writer records her 1936 stay in Japan (Tokyo, Hokkaido and Kamaskura)- Her curiosity took her into awkward situations, but her friendship with an English writer, a three-year resident, helped her to clearer understanding of a Great Power living in an age of nature gods, of the fantastic, unreal quality of the country and the people. An interesting interpretation, based on personal research and explained in human terms, as she talks with all sorts of people -- a perceptive, critical portrait. She likes -- and dislikes -- and she points up her interpretation to current news, so one has a sense of this being contemporary afterthoughts.