Early Japanese Railways 1853-1914

“Free details Japan’s first six decades of railway development accompanied by rare, historic photographs, postcards, maps, and woodblock prints. Free brings to life the events and people, while providing greater context in both Japanese and world history. ” –Trains Magazine“A rare example of a work that combines technical excellence and a plethora of information with a lively writing style that always gives the human element its due.” –SamuraiArchives.com blog“There is enough information here to satisfy the historian, but the old maps, postcards, drawings and dining car menus are a definite bonus for the more visually-oriented.” –Shelf Awareness blog

Dan Free is a writer based in New York City. For many years Dan studied East Asia–particularly its adaptation of, and modernization through, railway technology. He has long been interested in the 19th century as the first modern age of sustained, comprehensive contact between Asia and the West. He has spent over 25 years assembling the collection show for the first time in these pages.