NATURALIST TRAVEL

Abstract

Foreign trips for a resident of a Russian province in the early twentieth century were extremely rare, especially in exotic countries. Japan until 1904 was perceived by most Europeans as a backward Asian country located at a great distance from the centers of civilization. The sudden success of the Japanese in the war with Russia sparked a surge of interest in the emerging powerful new state on the world stage, as well as in its history and culture. One of the few natives of the Perm province who visited Japan at that time was Pavel Vasilievich Suzev, an officer in the Russian army, an amateur botanist, and subsequently a professor at Perm University.