- Paperback: 433 pages
- Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd (Jun 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0862419964
- ISBN-13: 978-0862419967
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.2 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,380,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
There are two common starting points for travelogues. One is a desire to pursue ancestral roots. The other is a drunken bet. Hokkaido Highway Blues is the latter. After too much saké, Canadian travel writer and English teacher Will Ferguson finds himself following the Cherry Blossom Front, the route Japan's celebrated pink sakura follows. It announces spring, flowering in a wave from the southern tip Cape Sata, through Kyushu, Honshu and Hokkaido islands, to Northern extremity Cape Soya.
Zen says that, "To travel is better than to arrive". This is something people Ferguson encounters cannot comprehend. They offer to pay his train fare. People tell him the journey is impossible, since Japanese never pick-up hitchhikers. Naturally, they're wrong. "When you are a hitchhiker, people spill their lives into your lap," Ferguson says, "because the hitchhiker is a stranger, a fleeting guest, a temporary confidant". He meets tens of fascinating characters, from priests to golf enthusiasts. Their stories are used to explore Japanese culture better than a guidebook, from Shinto to sea gods, pachinko to senpai/kohai (teacher/student roles).
Ferguson, also author of The Hitchhikers Guide To Japan, clearly has a deep knowledge and passion for the country. He's an eloquent writer and his monologue is poetic and spiritual (though with plenty of cheap jokes too). It explores the massive and mysterious country beyond Tokyo, a magical fairyland of monkey islands, wild ponies, active volcanoes, hills, golf courses, beaches and gambling towns. --Sarah Champion
Product Description
This work recounts Will Ferguson's journey through Japan, as he hitch-hikes and follows the path of the cherry blossom or "sakura" moving from one coast to the other.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Real Japan,
By Dulwich Guy (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan (Paperback)
This is not some bland eulogy to Japan (which disappoints some reviewers); instead, this book is a warts-and-all travelogue that any serious expat who has lived in Japan will readily be able to identify with. The author perfectly represents (through his writing) the love/hate relationship that most people who stay in Japan for any length of time do end up having. He has a great eye for detail and his writing is both insightful and witty; his style is also highly readable and there is no shortage of 'laugh out loud' moments.This is not a 'Frommers guide' for the well-heeled tourist, it's written by a hitchhiker! So reviewers moaning that the author has a negative attitude to Japan are completely missing the point and should re-read the preface (i.e. you are told quite clearly that it's irreverent and that this is not some dull, politically correct travel guide)! If you want something anodyne, go to a travel agent and get yourself a glossy brochure instead! At times self-deprecating and always funny, this is a great read and will really help the reader to get 'under the skin' of Japanese society, moving beyond the usual clichés. It is also a perfect primer for would-be English teachers to read before they go out! (I wish I'd read it before I went!) And even if you don't know anything about Japan and don't plan to visit, it's a very engaging travelogue in its own right. If you liked Lost in Translation, you will also love this book! Highly recommended.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Bliss,
This review is from: Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan (Paperback)
Hokkaido Highway isn't your cliched romatic view of Japan or then again any other country but an honest view from a man who clearly loves Japan for it's good and it's bad.Some people see his negative aspects of this country as "pokes" but I believe this is just the authors blatant honesty something that some people can only see as negative due to their pure adoration for Japan. This is a perfect book for the pure lover of Japan or just someone who fancies a interesting insight into a new country with plenty of laughs, perfect holiday literature.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Essential Japanese travelogue,
By
This review is from: Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan (Paperback)
This is a witty travelogue about one guy's hitchhiking endeavour in Japan - from the Southern tip of Kyushu to the Northernmost point (or very nearly!) of Hokkaido.The first 100 pages are hilarious, as Will travels through Kyushu, where he had lived for most of his stay in Japan. The writing here is very entertaining, showing us the view of a resident foreigner who is still amazed and at odds with the country and the attitudes. However, as his journey develops, especially after a frankly miserable day in Fukui, the tone becomes more cynical and the writing less enjoyable, while still being entertaining. For anyone becoming interested in modern Japan and the Japanese, this book is very pleasurable and enlightening reading and I highly recommend that you add it to your reading list.
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