Japan: True Stories of Life on the Road

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.

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!

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.

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.