Customer Reviews

Travelers' Tales Guides Japan: True Stories of Life on the Road

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a guidebook, the publisher asserts. Within its pages, you won't find recommendations for dining and accomodations in myriad cities like your usual Lonely Planet. What you hold, rather, is a collection of writings from various authors, ranging from the whimsical to the reflective, the amusing to the spiritual.

Take for instance, Dave Berry's take on Kabuki, extracted from his book "Dave Berry Does Japan". He presents his own candid views on how the artform looks to the untrained western eye. The tradition of the onnagata (male actor playing the role of a female), is described much to my hilarity as "(John) Belushi playing the samurai whining transvestite". In contrast, are the writings of Lafcadio Hearn, whose zen like reflections betray his contemplative nature.

The rest of the chapters examine topics as diverse as the indoor ski slopes in Japan, Tsukiji fish market, Sumo wrestling, and a Lesbian's night out. The latter is particularily telling, on how one can come out of the closet and yet remain repressed in preconceived gender roles that is, in essence, very Japanese.

It is hoped, apparently, that the collective consciousness of the authors gives an invaluable insight into the psyche of this nation. Most of the chapters are excerpts from books on Japan by noted authors. The more well known being Pico Iyer, Nikos Kazantzakis, Alan Booth, Alex Kerr and Lafcadio Hearn. Having also read most of the cited references, I can vouch for the editor's ability to choose the excerpts which are both poignant and yet typify the author's style.

Recommended for additional reading, not as a guide (as the publisher claims) to finding your way around.

"Japan : True Stories of Life on the Road" is a collection of anecdotal stories told by people who have journeyed to Japan.

The strength of the book lies in the different points of view. Each traveler experienced a different Japan and has different things to say about the country and it's people. Some of the tales are funny, some are serious and some are informative. The book has a nice balance of styles, and there is very little replication. What is it like to go to a Love Hotel? What do you do when you are served living squid for dinner? What is a Kabuki play like? These are the type of questions answered by this book.

It's weakness lies in the fact that many of these tales have been published elsewhere. If you have read many books on Japan, chances are you will have already read many of these stories. Several selections from "Learning to Bow," "Dave Barry does Japan" and "36 Views of Mt. Fuji" are here.

All in all, it is a good book, and worth reading.

The concept for this travelling book is different from the others. Rather than providing readers with hard facts, it condenses essays written by travellers who have been to Japan to give the readers a feel of the country. To be truthful, I enjoy this format thoroughly as there's a human dimension to it. Some essays are compiled by Alan Booth, who is rather well known for his works about Japan & who has since passed away due to cancer but his legacy remains. Anyhow, some of the highlights of the book are writers' experiences in the love hotel & thus, collecting many green hair elastic band along the way; feelling like a Godzilla for crushing into everything due to the space constraint in Japan & the difficulty of adjusting to Japanese custom; skiing & playing beach volleyball INDOOR; visiting to the renowned Ryoanji Temple; disturbing visit to the Peace Park in Hiroshima; groping & fondling problem in the subway & thus, destroying the myth of all Japanese males being gentlemen; significance of cherry blossoms during spring time; a new but boring visit to the Noh theatre for the undiscerning & not to mention the sumo wrestling; the chaotic but harmonious existence among the fishmongers in Tskuji, the biggest fish market in the world; Osaka for having the rebellious spirit, dare to be different from the rest of Japan etc. Because the writers write as they see Japan, not all articles are for Japan but rather, the other Japan that you haven't seen before. I thoroughly enjoy the experience of reading the book as if I were there already. Highly recommended.

For the casual travelogue reader (or someone with varried interests in Japan), this book is quite good. But you must keep in mind that all of the stories are short -- many of them were taken from longer travelogues and books. Sometimes I found myself wanting more. And I thought that some of the writings were by unexperienced, travelers with a Western bias and a limited understanding of Japan. But this is a great introdction to experienced Japan travel writers such as Alan Booth and Cathy Davidson. And many of the travelogues in this book (though short) are very well written. Booth's poignent piece about his experience in Hiroshima is wonderful. The short observation by Pico Iyer about English in Japan is downright hilarious, and Michael Ward's detailed description about missing the last train is very detailed and is a common dilema for the foregin traveler in Japan. Yes, I would recommend this book. However if you are truly interested in Japan, I think you would also enjoy some longer travelogues.

Gets under the skin of life in Japan. Thoughtful and well-crafted, leaves you with lasting visual and emotional impressions. Bike rides through the night, Shinto temples, planting rice, delightful grannies, laughter, dealing with grief, the kindness of strangers. Just as I wanted it, this book has me looking forward to visiting Japan, feeling prepared and intrigued.

What a great collection of stories, offering an insightful look at Japan and its people. The well-written stories come from a variety of authors, all of whom have very unique experiences to share. For anyone travelling to Japan, this book should rate as your most important resource; for the armchair traveller, this makes for a great read.

I am planning a trip to Japan this summer and have been reading everything I could find. This book is the best! It has stories that touch every aspect of the culture - food, arts, business, entertainment, history, social relations, sex, everything. The stories are taken from about 30 or 40 different books about Japan. Some stories have been so enjoyable or informative that I have since ordered two of the books. I have not seen these in bookstores and never would have known about them. High recommendation!

There are some fine pieces here. Unfortunately, there's a lot of pieces that haven't really aged well since first seeing the light of day in other places.

There is a bit too much earnest material, confusing sentimentality with cultural sensitivity. (And do we really need another appearance by Lafcaidio Hearn?) I think future volumes could be improved greatly if some of the older stuff from the economic bubble era could be thinned out (the David Berry piece in particular could be deep-sixed. It's not very funny and not very insightful) and more contemporary post-crash voices added.

Small portions, but so many courses.

This book, consisting of lots of extracts from other peoples writing, serves as a good introduction to the nature of Japan. From the serious to lighthearted, most tales consist of people trying to understand, to reason and just plain survive in a foreign country that seems a little familiar yet very foreign. Stories from groups that consider cleaning toilets a ritual to stolen bikes and strange food.

Each tale is a few pages long. Sometimes either a whole magazine article or chapter from a book, but complete in itself. One feature I liked was small boxed inserts on some pages from another writer which complimented or highlighted the story you were reading. At the end of each tale is an extra excerpt from someone else's story on the same topic.

There's a little bit here for everyone.

This is a great book! Like all of the other Travelers' Tales Guides, it is well edited - filled with interesting, finely crafted stories by both well-known and newer writers. Keep in mind that if you've done a lot of reading on Japan (like me reading travel narratives on Japan in preparation for the JET program), you've probably already read some of the books that are excerpted in this book - Cathy Davidson's 36 Views of Mt. Fuji, Learning to Bow by Bruce Feiler, Pico Iyer's The Lady and the Monk... But overall, this is a great introduction to Japan and a nice selection of viewpoints for those of us who have already done some reading.