Will Ferguson - Hokkaido Highway Blues (Hitchhiking Japan) (2nd Hand Paperback)
Synopsis
Hitchhiking may be an ancient mode of travel but in Japan it is considered folly. Which is precisely its attraction to henna gaijin ("weird foreigner") Will Ferguson, who is determined to thumb the entire length of the country following sakura - the surge of cherry blossoms that each year ignites the landscape.
It had never been done before. Not in 4000 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. But, heady on sakura and sake, Will Ferguson bet he could do both.
The resulting travelogue is one of the funniest and most illuminating books ever written about Japan. And, as Ferguson learns, it illustrates that to travel is better than to arrive.
Starting out from tropical Cape Sata, the small southernmost metropolis where gardeners dust volcanic ash from their flowers, he heads north for distant Hokkaido, still snow laden. It is a journey full of hilarious misadventures and revelations.
Whether Ferguson is doing the forbidden and not knowing it, or holding "conversations by non sequitur," he experiences Japan in unusual and even profound ways.
Details
- Format : Standard 2nd Hand Paperback
- Condition : Good
- Category : Non-Fiction - Travel & Guidebooks
- Published : 2000 (Canongate)
- ISBN : 9781841952888
- SKU : B002064
- PPC : LL380gm
- RRP : £7.99
- Quantity Available : 1 only.
External Reviews
"This is more than a travel story. It's a dissection of the soul of Japan. It's the tale of the elation of embarking upon a unique and challenging quest, and accomplishing it. It's about a man discovering that he has evolved." - Goodreads Review.