The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan

4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 · rating details · 325 ratings · 43 reviews

ALAN BOOTH'S CLASSIC OF MODERN TRAVEL WRITING
Traveling only along small back roads, Alan Booth traversed Japan's entire length on foot, from Soya at the country's northernmost tip, to Cape Sata in the extreme south, across three islands and some 2,000 miles of rural Japan. The Roads to Sata is his wry, witty, inimitable account of that prodigious trek.
Although he was a c...more

Paperback, 304 pages

Published August 14th 1997 by Kodansha (first published 1985)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Best Books About Japan

22nd out of 200 books — 88 voters

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Best Japanese books

151st out of 386 books — 1,282 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 861)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 15, 2010 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: japan, travelogue, autobiography

Alan Booth’s sadly premature death from cancer in his 40s remains a tragedy, for one of the best travel writers of the English language will neither write nor travel again.

A must-read for anyone interested in Japan, and a must-read for one devoted to superlative writing, for Booth transcends the mundane and ordinary while simultaneously revelling in both, and embodies with ease the Japanese aesthetic of “mono-no-aware”: delight in the beauty and pathos of ephemeral things.

It is no exaggeration...more

like · see review

Dec 24, 2012 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: white-rabbit

Alan Booth's travel classic narrates 2000 miles walking through Japan, wherein Booth turned down repeated offers of rides and eschewed buses, trains, bicycles, or any other alternate form of transportation. A "smart, subtle" writer, and somewhat wistful to boot, Booth was a clear Japanophile, but he avoided stupid glorification of superficial details to characterize inner truth and genuine sentiment. One is bombarded, traveling around Japan, with the resident foreign expert in every bar or water...more

like · see review

Jul 15, 2011 Kirsten rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, travel

What a rare gem: a travel book I actually enjoyed! Thanks to my friend Lucy for the recommendation.

Booth has a rare perspective for a travel writer. Before writing this book he had lived in Japan for 7 years, so he knew the language and was at least acquainted with the infamously impenetrable culture of the country, so he has both an outsider's perspective on and a pretty intimate relationship with it. This strikes a balance that most travel writers I've read don't even approach.

His prose style...more

like · see review

Dec 20, 2012 Andrew Frueh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: japan, memoir

An unflinchingly honest chronicle of Alan Booth's four month walk down the entire length of Japan. Booth had the advantage of being a fluent Japanese speaker, but throughout his journey he was almost always an outsider. As someone with an interest in Japanese culture, that is the aspect of the book I found most interesting. Booth made his journey in 1986, so in fairness, things may have changed some since the advent of the Internet and global media.

A reoccurring theme throughout his journey was...more An unflinchingly honest chronicle of Alan Booth's four month walk down the entire length of Japan. Booth had the advantage of being a fluent Japanese speaker, but throughout his journey he was almost always an outsider. As someone with an interest in Japanese culture, that is the aspect of the book I found most interesting. Booth made his journey in 1986, so in fairness, things may have changed some since the advent of the Internet and global media.

A reoccurring theme throughout his journey was the inability of locals to believe he could speak their language, or even eat their food. There were several situations where a hotel owner would turn him away because they didn't have anyone there who spoke English, at which point Booth would point out the fact that they had been conducting their conversation for the past five minutes in Japanese. Or even more absurd, restaurant owners would turn him away because they had nothing there he could eat, only rice and fish.

I've studied the Japanese language myself with the hope that it would be a window into a completely foreign world. In many ways, Japan and the US are on different planets (films like Lost in Translation are built on this idea). However, Booth's experience was eye opening for me. It suggests that even as a fluent Japanese speaker, a Westerner will always be on the outside looking in. A majority of Easterners and Westerners seem to perceive the other as rude or strange. It seems to me that neither side is correct, they are just so fundamentally different that it can be hard for them to find common ground.

I don't say this to suggest that we should give up and go back to isolationism. In fact, the huge divides between us are all the more reason to get to know each other better. But before that dialogue can begin, both sides need to acknowledge where they are starting from. I think Booth himself would admit that he failed to appreciate that before he began his journey. Upon completion of his walk, he was asked, "Do you feel at home in Japan?" To which he responded, "No, I think it would be a particularly thick-skinned foreigner who was able to do that".

I'm grateful to have benefited from Booth's insight, because it has changed the way I will approach learning about cultures outside my own. Booth finished the book with a conversation he had with an elderly man who said in response to a series of questions:

"Tokyo is not Japan. You can't understand Japan by living in Tokyo."
"You can't understand Japan just by looking at it."
"You can't understand Japan just by walking though it."
"You can't understand Japan just by talking to people."

Finally Booth asked, "How do you suggest I try and understand Japan, then?"

In a very Zen way, the man simply responded, "You can't understand Japan."

(less)

like · see review

May 05, 2013 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, auto-biography

128 days, 3,300 kilometers (2,050 miles), most likely in 1985. This account of walking the length of the Japanese nation is a very normalized account of what sounds as demanding as a 2,000-mile walk might be - along coastlines, across mountains, alongside active volcanoes, through towns, cities and rural areas, staying mostly in inns, and meeting a wide variety of people. I was nagged by wanting to have articulated what prompted the trek, and thankfully, Booth concludes the book by stating that....more 128 days, 3,300 kilometers (2,050 miles), most likely in 1985. This account of walking the length of the Japanese nation is a very normalized account of what sounds as demanding as a 2,000-mile walk might be - along coastlines, across mountains, alongside active volcanoes, through towns, cities and rural areas, staying mostly in inns, and meeting a wide variety of people. I was nagged by wanting to have articulated what prompted the trek, and thankfully, Booth concludes the book by stating that. He conveys an obvious affection for the country and people he had lived in "for a quarter of my life." Unlike venturing out into the wilderness like Wild, Booth passed through whatever landscape or community presented itself. His approach to and visit in Hiroshima is a very memorable part of the book. His encounters with people along the way tends to get blurred together. Repeated experiences include: being taunted by children, being offered car rides, being brushed aside on highways by speeding cars and trucks, being denied access to a ryokan because he is a foreigner, finding comic-book porn in restaurants and hotels, drinking sake and beer at day's ends, and somehow, even though he is speaking Japanese with those he meets, being assumed that he cannot understand Japanese. Several quotes stand out:

Few people, it seems, walk the length of the sandbar. At Chionji temple, near the southern end, a group of tourists had just broken off their prayers at the urgent beck of several bullhorns and had rushed down the old temple steps and boarded a boat for a sightseeing cruise. That is certainly a better way of appreciating the sandbar as a whole than to walk along it, where only the details are viewable; but it was the details that I like most. (p.179)

That seems like an apt characterization of the whole journey.

I recognized the turnoff to the lodging house, which I reached about an hour later, by a brightly lit electric sign glowing an effusive welcome. The place itself was about a kilometer and a half along a track that ran up into the hills, and when I arrived a large barking dog greeted me equally effusively. The doors of the lodging house were curtained and locked and it took five minutes of rattling them to rouse the white-shirted custodian, who bustled out finally to tell me that they were closed.
"But you've a got a sign all lit up down on the highway."
"Yes. We always keep it lit."
"What for, for goodness' sake?"
"To make people feel welcome."
"But you're closed!"
"That's right."
Which was, perhaps the most quintessentially Oriental conversation of the entire trip. (pp.191-192)

I would have very much liked a different set of maps - each chapter begins with a map that outlines the course of Booth's journey, but only indicating the coastline and the course of his path that connected one town to the next; part of the pleasure of a book like this is to have a sense of where you are - maps that included more details and provincial boundaries would have made it a much more engaging book, especially because Booth frequently refers to other locations, landforms, cities - for those of us who have not walked Japan's length, more helpful maps would have given a visual sense of the relationships between these places. It is also curious for a book subtitled "A 2000-Mile Walk through Japan" to give all distances in kilometers - given that Booth is from the UK, why not just give the distance in kilometers?

Even though Booth is the major character of this account, his approach leaves him receding into the background and letting the country, topography and people take center stage. I would have liked to get a better sense of who he was, and what made him tick. (Unlike walking the Camino del Santiago in Spain, this is a solitary rather than communal walk and there is no apparent spiritual element to this journey. (Booth does refer to bodily ailments he notices late in the trip and that he was sick on his first bus ride out of Sata - a foreshadowing of the cancer that ended his life in early 1993?

"Did you ever feel like giving up?"
"Once, early on, when I thought I might not be up to it, and once in Hiroshima when I began to wonder what the point was."
"Can you now say what the point was?"
"No."
"Did you enjoy it?"
"Yes. I would do it again if I had the time and energy and money."
"Why did you decide to do it in the first place?"
"Because I'd lived in Japan for a quarter of my life and still didn't know whether I was wasting my time. I hoped that by taking four months off to do nothing but scrutinize the country I might come to grips with the business of living here, and get a clearer picture, for better or worse."
"Have you managed to do that?"
"No."
"Do you like the Japanese?"
"Which Japanese?"
"The Japanese."
"Which Japanese."
"Do you feel at home in Japan?"
"No, I think it would be a peculiarly thick-skinned foreigner who was able to do that."
"Do you think you've learned much during the last four months?"
"Yes, I think I've learned a bit about Japan and a lot about myself." (pp.280-281)

The old man had asked me where I lived, and I told him I lived in Tokyo.
"Tokyo is not Japan," he said. "You can't understand Japan by living in Tokyo."
"No," I agreed. "That's why I'm taking this time off to have a good look at the rest of it."
"You can't understand Japan just by looking at it," the old man said.
"No, not just by looking at it," I said. "Not by looking at it as a tourist might out of the window of a bus, but by walking through the whole length of it."
You can't understand Japan just by walking through it," the old man said.
"Not just by walking through it," I argued, "but by talking to all the different people I meet."
"You can't understand Japan just by talking to people," the old man said.
"How do you suggest I try to understand Japan then?" I asked him.
"You can't understand Japan," he said. (p.281)

(less)

like · see review

Apr 13, 2011 Tyson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel, read-in-2011, history

A very interesting look at Japan. Since I live in South Korea, I can't help but notice a lot of similarities. Especially the way everyone acts when the encounter a foreigner. While the book was written decades ago, it did not feel dated. It is also a great book for anyone considering coming over to an Asian country as it does a fairly good job of telling it like it is without making the Japanese people look absurd or idiotic. A heartfelt journey into the Japan and a decent account of what life i...more

like · see review

Apr 04, 2011 Jim rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: asia, nonfiction, travel

Can we find a little joy in Japan? Ferguson did. Granted, Booth was writing in the 1980s, not far removed in the grand scheme of things, from defeat at the hand of evil empire (oh, wait, that's the Middle Eastern view) and cultural upheaval, and granted also that a journalist must call them like they see them, but really, you almost get the feeling that the hiking trip from top to bottom of the islands was foisted on him by his publishers and he wasn't having it. It is basically a litany of bewi...more

like · see review

Aug 12, 2010 Diane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: japan-japanese, travel

Booth spoke Japanese fluently and had lived in Japan for 7 years when he went on his 2000 mile walk from the northern tip of Hokkaido to the southern tip of Kyushu. This is the kind of trip I always think I would like to do and it also reminded me of our wonderful cross country hitchhiking trip in 1978. Booth does his trip with little reflection but by simply recording what he sees, how he is treated, the weather, the landscape. Somehow you learn a lot from his method. He eschewed the biggest ci...more

like · see review

Aug 03, 2007 Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: travelogues, japan, nonfiction

An introspective travelogue, focused more on the inner than outer journey -- my favorite kind of travelogue, in fact.

Booth walked from the northernmost to the southernmost points in Japan, a trek of some 2,000 miles. Although he spoke fluent Japanese, he found that the perceptions (especially in rural areas) of his "foreignness" created almost an invisible barrier. Still, there were times when he transcended cultural perceptions and had amazing encounters.

Rather episodic by nature, Booth's obs...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 15, 2011 Bernardo Hourmat rated it 5 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this record of Booth's trek through Japan.
I read it sometime last year and I immediately associated it with my own desire to go backpacking through a personal destination of mine, albeit one much more culturally familiar to me.
The thing I enjoyed the most was, probably, the very dry (almost cynical) humour that Moore sprinkles here and there throughout the book, pointing out some of the more surreal experiences he went through.

like · see review

Aug 01, 2010 Marceline Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: japan, my-favourite-books, expeditions, non-fiction

This is the earlier book where he walked the entire length of Japan. Of course, that makes it extremely interesting as you get to see the differences between the 3 main islands. On the downside, I now pretty much want to visit everywhere in Japan. As with the other book, it’s full of hilarious anecdotes of his adventures and the people he meets in the inns and bars and restaurants. Totally recommended.

like · see review

Dec 30, 2011 Michael Davenport rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

One of my favourite commentaries on Japan, Booth picks out the humdrum details of his 2,000 mile walk across Japan in beautiful prose, highlighting the apathy in modern Japanese society and the often alienating attitudes of Japanese to foreigners. Dolefully captivating, and one of the rare occasions I've read a book more than once.

like · see review

Oct 20, 2011 Kyle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very slow beginning, but it finishes strong. Really, there's a quote on page 178 (paperback) of Booth listing off his accomplishments that really sums up why he is doing any of this at all. An interesting look at Japan and why an outsider may never fully understand the country as a whole.

like · see review

Jun 12, 2008 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I was puzzled by several things. He always walked on the road; he never seemed to have snacks or food with him; and he talked often about drinking beer and sake, but never water. I think things have changed a lot with the walking/hiking crowd since the 80's, but still....

It was surprising the difficulty he had as a non-Asian walking in parts of Japan. Some of the most fascinating observations concerned the difficulty many Japanese had in accepting that a white man wh...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 03, 2012 Clarkarch rated it 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely incredible tale of a man's journey and the unexpected adventures he encounters along his path. Really unique perspective of an "outsider" who is still living as such in a country he's called home for longer then his native country. Really a hidden gem.

like · see review

Apr 05, 2010 Lisa Eggers rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: japan

This was really interesting. I never read a travel memoir quite like this one. Very unique. I particularly liked the accounts of how the Japanese reacted to Booth in places where a gajin face is a rarity. I wanted to know more about the ryokans, each one, what they were like, what were they called. I'd like to re-read this book just to try to make an accounting of approximately how much saki and sapporo beer was consumed on this 2,000 mile walk :).

like · see review

Jun 07, 2013 Jordan rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an excellent book. I live in Japan, and this put so much of what I deal with as a gaijin into a witty, and incredibly insightful, but never judgemental book which is a real pleasure to read. Highly recommend.

like · see review

Dec 07, 2009 Mdabrowski rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic on-foot journey through modern-day pockets of ancient Japan. Written in biography format this book details the author's journey through the myriad cultural adventures through rural Japan.

like · see review

Jul 16, 2012 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

Booth walks the length of Japan in an attempt to find how a foreigner can fit into Japan. His path is noble and his prose as beautiful as the roads he walks. His story is particularly admirable because of what other gaigin are doing during the 70s. I read this with Stephanie in preparation for our family journey to Japan.

like · see review

Oct 17, 2012 Vanessa rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the few books I recommend to everyone from strangers to good friends. The last sentence in the book still haunts me, even after the 10 years since I read it.

like · see review

Dec 02, 2008 Mekisha Hecht rated it 3 of 5 stars

My only concern was the focus on trying to find alcohol and trying to find a place to stay. I wish there was more info on the people and places he visited.

like · see review

Feb 14, 2012 Terrance rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

A wonderfully crafted tale of Booth's journey through a fascinating and culturally unique country. Whimsical and strange adventures lie behind each page.

like · see review

May 28, 2008 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Reuben Quinones

I love travel memoirs, but this is one of the absolute best I have read. In it, Alan Booth spends several months walking the length of (rural) Japan in the mid-80s, and this is his account of what he saw and who he met along the way. He's not overly romantic about Japan, nor is he overly critical--he just writes what he sees and feels so that I felt as if I had walked with him (minus the blisters). The passage in which he plays the taiko drum at a local festival was my favorite bit--I could feel...more

like · see review

Aug 31, 2007 Jamie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel-writing, favorites

Man, it is hard to say just how much I like this book. Alan Booth, seven years into his life in Japan decides to walk the length of the archipelago. In the process he seems to empty himself out completely, opening himself up to the sights and smells (and beer) of rural Japan. There is not a shred of interpretation or theorizing about "What is Japan?" in the whole book, which just leaves you with a long series of vignettes and many, many bottles of beer. The book is funny without jokes, sad witho...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 09, 2009 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: not-a-novel, travel

This is an awesome account of one man's walk through Japan. It has great insights into Japanese culture. Recommended for anyone visiting Japan.

like · see review

Aug 03, 2011 Janet rated it 5 of 5 stars

Well observed and beautifully written travel story. I felt like I got to know the people and villages along his route.

like · see review

May 11, 2010 Greybeard is currently reading it

A really nice travelogue ...A lot of interesting characters the author meets along the way

like · see review

Sep 12, 2009 Holly Lindquist rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, travel

This is one of the best travel memoirs I've ever read. Wonderfully detailed, lots of saki-drinking, and hanging out with the locals. Good stuff.

like · see review

Aug 27, 2010 Sarah Brandel rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Mar 02, 2009 Kenny rated it 5 of 5 stars

the backcountry of japan in the 1970s

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 28 29 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Japan on Foot	1	6	Mar 23, 2012 03:08pm

combine
Other Editions (5)

More editions...

Genres

Travel

57 users

Cultural > Japan

50 users

Non Fiction

21 users

Autobiography > Memoir

6 users

Cultural > Asia

5 users

History

3 users

Asian Literature > Japanese Literature

3 users

Biography

2 users

Biography Memoir

2 users

Biography > Autobiography

2 users

See top shelves...

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Roads to Sata...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan
avg rating	preview: The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan Goodreads rating: 4.12 (325 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171242.The_Roads_to_Sata?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266488012l/171242.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171242.The_Roads_to_Sata?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan by Alan Booth[/url]

The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (5)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Alan Booth

Books by Alan Booth

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Roads to Sata...