Hitching Rides with Buddha [Paperback]

Will Ferguson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 21, 2006

Take a humorist from the Great White North — one part Bob and Doug McKenzie, the other Bill Bryson — feed him lots of sake, and set him loose hitchhiking his way through polite Japanese society. The result is one of the warmest and funniest travelogues you've read. It had never been done before. Not in four thousand years of Japanese recorded history had anyone followed the Cherry Blossom Front from one end of the country to the other. Nor had anyone hitchhiked the length of Japan. And, as Ferguson learns, it illustrates that to travel is better than to arrive.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Canongate U.S. (April 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841957852
• ISBN-13: 978-1841957852
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #606,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No book captures the experience of being here better, December 30, 2006

By 

Amazon3421 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hitching Rides with Buddha (Paperback)

Books about Japan by westerners seem to fall into two categories- literary books that talk about Japan in poetic terms and dwell on traditional culture, and comedy books that play up the wacky side of Japanese pop culture for laughs. Somewhere in between is "Hitching Rides with the Buddha"- a book by a foreigner who actually lived here for 5 years, speaks Japanese (as modest as he is about his blunders with the grammar), and really has an understanding of its people and its way of life.

Written as a modern day answer to Alan Booth's "The Road to Sato", this book details Ferguson's cross-country hitchhiking trip from mainland Japan's southernmost point in Kyushu to the northernmost point in Hokkaido, covering thousands of miles and encountering people from all walks of life, from teenagers to senior citizens and from ski bums to college professors.

At first, I was a bit sceptical about reading a book based on a trip hatched, by Ferguson's own admission, while falling-down drunk at a cherry blossom-viewing party in rural Kyushu. What kind of expert could he be?

But speaking as someone who loves Japan and has lived here almost 5 years myself, this book gets to the heart of the experience better than any other I know, and does a great job capturing the joy, delight, confusion and even occasional sorrow that comes when interacting with this amazing culture. Inspired by this book, I sometimes take off on similar hitch hiking trips during breaks at the university I teach at, and even made the same trip from Kyushu to Hokkaido. Every trip is a different adventure, and I'm glad that someone as talented as Ferguson wrote about it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read after Alan Booth's "The Roads to Sata", November 28, 2006

By 

Justin J (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hitching Rides with Buddha (Paperback)

Hitchhiking from Cape Sata to Cape Soya in Japan, William Ferguson creates a good follow up to Alan Booth's "The Roads to Sata". As humorous as it is scholarly, one comes from this book feeling they somewhat understand many aspects of Japanese culture, such as Shintoism. I say somewhat because, as Ferguson clearly shows in the narrative, it's impossible to ever understand the Japanese fully without being Japanese. A good read for any time.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm only halfway through this book..., January 13, 2008

By 

which road - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hitching Rides with Buddha (Paperback)

....but I must say, besides it being funny and a real treat to read, I find that the author has a beautiful way with words that is not so often seen in travel writing. Chapter 10 may very well be one of the best chapters in a book I have ever read, and re-read, and read again. Beautiful words and beautiful images. I look forward to finishing the book this week, and thus far, can say that I highly recommend this book who not only enjoy good writing, but also a good laugh. - Vince Yanez, Author of It Doesn't Matter Which Road You Take: A European Travel Story