The Mountains of the World

Publication Year: 1968.

The Mountains of the World, by Hisatake Murakami, Editor, and Ichiro Yoshizawa, Director. Tokyo: Yama to Keikoku, 1967. 212 pages, 200 color pictures and 8 sketch-maps; paper cover. Price: Yen 480 or $1.40. This small book is a pleasant surprise. For a low price one can obtain a collection of two hundred very well reproduced pictures in full color, in which we see portrayed the more interesting mountain ranges of the world. At the same time, these pictures are a testimony of the great expeditionary activity displayed by Japanese climbers in recent years; before 1940 they traveled abroad only on occasions: to ascend Nanda Kot, in Garhwal, and Mount Alberta, in Canada. But from 1956 to 1966 they climbed 18 peaks over 7000 meters, including Manaslu (8157 meters), not to mention scores of fine ascents in the Andes, Alaska, Caucasus, Antarctica, etc. All the pictures reproduced in the book were taken by Japanese; they were chosen not only for their sharpness of the topographical detail, but also for their beauty. Peaks, ice-fluted walls, flowers and sunset scenes are finely reproduced. In the drawing of the sketch-maps and in part of the direction of the work we can see the hand of Mr. Yoshizawa, an expedition leader, author and a student of the history of mountaineering. This book is becoming very popular in Japan and a second edition is in preparation. For what it offers, and at such a price, it deserves to become popular everywhere.

Evelio Echevarría