Josie Dew doesn't take herself at all seriously, making this a refreshing read. It is also a long read and I feel it would have benefited from a bit more editing. I learnt a lot about Japan and the customs of the country and the people. Josie Dew is friendly and clearly approachable and she has a knack of making friends quickly that makes her a perfect solo traveller. The book has a charming chatty atmosphere and being a bit shorter would have been able to keep this element while avoiding repetition and over emphasis which I occasionally found irritating. ( )

I loved this book. I read it when I was going through a phase of being fascinated with Japanese culture, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone going through a similar phase. Josie Dew is honest and funny, and she has some really lovely stories to tell about her encounters with various people. If you're into Bill Bryson, or similar authors, I'd recommend Josie Dew, as she has a similar style of writing - educational, yet funny. ( )

One of the more inspiring books I've read in recent years. Josie Dew has a great sense of the written word. She's funny, poignant, and weaves history and the clash and merge of cultures into her stories of travel and adventure. This book, of her ride around Japan, is wonderful. A must read for the traveler, the traveler at heart, Japanophiles, and bicycle lovers everywhere. ( )

Why travel if you know where you are? One travels for the pleasure of being lost. - Christopher Hope

About halfway through the book, not bad considering it's ~700 pages and I've not had much time for reading this week with o/s guests and all. Just a few thoughts before I forget them.

Though I have no intention of ever riding a bicycle through this crazy country, Josie's initial thoughts made me ever so grateful that I've never arrived through Narita. I think the urban sprawl and chaos would scare the life out of me!

Signs! All shapes, all sizes, all over the place. All styles of scripts: kanji, romaji, hiragana, katakana, furigama, gymkhana (?!). Headcrunch. Overload. Brains blow. Zap.

Never a truer phrase spoken. I remember when I initialy arrived trying to work out how I was meant to find anything if I had no idea what the signs said. I still remember the initial quest for a hanger. What fun that was. I still can't imagine this country as seen through a tourist's eyes.

I found her thoughts on the elevator lady's most interesting. I can't say I run across them too often as I don't frequent the depaato's much but last week when SKyring and I were at Osaka Castle we were treated to the service of an elevator lady. It's a nice touch, I must admit, but the same info could easily be conveyed on a sign and rest her poor vocal cords!

Oh, and Josie Dew is obsessed with the phrase 'gay abandon' -- I quit counting but when I stopped she'd used it seven times--probably six times more than I'd heard it in my entire life prior to reading her books. I think it stuck out because it's such a quirky phrase.

And I laugh that I have to read a book about Japan to find out that the Poohsticks Bridge and 100 Acre Wood are real.Pooh-san! ( )