Tokyo to Tokyo: A Cycling Adventure Around Japan

by Daniel Doughty

In the Land of the Rising Sun, one Brit and his bicycle can get into a lot of mischief. Beginning and ending in the biggest metropolis on earth, small town farm hand, and part-time adventurer Daniel Doughty with his trusty steed tackle all 47 of Japan’s prefectures.

A tale of ups and downs in every sense where around each corner uncertainty awaits; mountains, bustling cities, nudists, language barriers, culture clashes, typhoons, humidity, the rainy season, volcanoes, sexy donuts, drivers of unscrupulous quality, grizzly bears, macaque-attacks, hobo-sexuals, earthquakes, battered communities, starvation, hangovers, dicey bowel movements, nuclear fallout, more mountains and an all round general fear of the unknown.

So saddle up or saddle down, this is Tokyo to Tokyo.

Genres: Japan

382 pages, Paperback

Published November 3, 2016

About the author

In 2014 I cycled from Tokyo to Tokyo,
In 2015 I started writing a book about cycling from Tokyo to Tokyo,
In 2016 I finished writing a book about cycling from Tokyo to Tokyo,
In 2017 I will not be cycling from Tokyo to Tokyo.
www.Tokyo-to-Tokyo.com

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am grateful to Goodreads and Daniel for the opportunity to read this book. His was an unusual undertaking leading to a long journey . Seeing past a little of the 'bloke' language, not to my taste and spelling and grammar errors, the humour is down to earth and the journey very interesting.
I learnt a lot about Japan on the way,most vivid the post earthquake and tsunami desolation, scars from the Second World War, the varied scenery ,the many acts of kindness from strangers he experienced and the descriptions of cycling with maniacal drivers to whom he was invisible.
I am passing on to my brother, a cyclist and who has been to Japan,I cannot do either but they are not prerequisites for enjoying the book.

[Brandon Dalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

In “Tokyo to Tokyo,” Englishman Daniel Doughty travels around every prefecture in Japan by bicycle. Planning my own cycle trip around the country, I was very excited to jump into this one. As he states, many have cycled from the southernmost point to the northernmost point of Japan, but have any westerners really cycled through every prefecture? I admired his stated goal and determination to see it through. Overall, I still feel that way, although now having read it, I have mixed feelings about the recounting of the journey here in this book.

I think the main gripe I had with it was that the book often feels like one big venting session of all of his problems along the journey; the trip is so long that he ends up facing all the worst weather that Japan has to offer. He also faces many tire punctures, crappy camping conditions, many terrible and oblivious drivers, and hard mountainous cycling hardships. These are all expected of course in a long distance journey around Japan, and I actually appreciated his honesty about the hardships because it gave me some food for thought about what to expect about the realities of such a journey. But again, the complaints were such a major focus of this book, even in times where some things could’ve been avoided like, for example, a time when he was facing the extreme cold and he hadn’t brought gloves with him. His hands were so cold that he literally urinated all over his fingers so that he wouldn’t get frostbite.

This constant venting about the issues he was facing led to the narrative becoming a bit repetitive as the story went on. I was interested in a lot of this as again, I’ll be doing a similar trip soon. But anyone who isn’t interested in actually doing a cycling trip in Japan, and was just reading this because they’re interested in Japan or like travel memoirs, may get bored pretty quickly. As a result, to me it felt like there was something missing from this; maybe a real sense of timeless adventure. The brutal honesty about the hardships almost took me out of the grand adventure that this must have been for him. In other words, it wasn’t as inspiring as some others I’ve read that made me want to go out and get on the bike right now.

Sometimes he would visit an area and it would really affect him like when he traveled through areas affected by the 2011 tsunami or when he visited places like Nagasaki. He showed a caring side and gave some uplifting words of hope. But then often he would talk about the history of an area, or a temple, or object, that he would visit, but it would sometimes just sound like the first paragraph of an internet search on the topic, you know? There was one time that he showed real genuine excitement and interest in something he was exploring and that was when he went trying to find a real mummy. Ultimately, he found one and he was so elated about it. That genuine excitement from him was so palpable, I feel like if the rest of the book showed this deep interest in certain places and topics, it would’ve led the narrative to be much more about Japan, and his real interests in Japan, and less about the negative sides of the journey.

One other thing that threw me off a bit was the humor; some of it felt a bit forced, but he talked about sex SO much throughout this book. It seemed like it was constantly on his mind. I could probably list 20 quotes of him talking about jizz, masturbation, and porn. I’m not a prude person and I have a sense of humor, but after a while it just came off sort of distasteful. On top of that, there were constant fart and poop jokes. And I understand the need for levity when he’s facing a lot of issues out there but it just felt like a bit much. I also kind of didn’t appreciate the fat shaming comments like “A guy so fat that I swear I could actually see him getting fatter in real-time…” or “It was selfish of me, but in the long run fatso would surely understand that I was doing him a favour.” Felt a bit rude and condescending.

With that being said, again I admired his determination to see this trip through. There were a few moments where he was really frustrated and questioning the whole thing, which I can understand. He even took some time off here and there to take a break (including one 12-day alcohol binge in Okinawa that left him in a bad place with heart palpitations). This trip really took its toll on him physically and mentally. He also faced some really intense and extremely dangerous riding conditions during typhoons. So I give him major respect for getting through all that and having the willpower to complete the trip.

Also, this was a fast read. It didn’t feel like a major chord to read or anything which was a good thing. I also enjoyed reading about all the gifts he received from strangers and the pleasant interactions he had with people he met along the way. I did enjoy reading this enough to follow his new blog/Facebook in order to continue hearing about his adventures so that says something about how I enjoyed reading about his Japan adventure. Cheers.

[Mandy Pattinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an unexpected joy this little gem was. Not your average travelogue I must say. My fiance kept harking on about it which is not always a good indicator of something actually being good. But it really made me giggle in places as you can tell the author doesn't take himself too seriously. Something I too often find with many travel writers and it kind of irks me. Doughty was on the road in Japan a long time and you can often feel the strain of it all in his words. Something that he occasionally seems to counter with a mild sense of puerility, which may or may not be for everyone. The places he visited and the characters he met were intriguing and with every chapter I was curious as to what misdemeanor he would be getting himself into next. It was a hearty, honest and good fun read and I found myself a little sad when his remarkable journey had come to an end. I hope that he'll write something again some day.

[Jewbo23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An earthy delight full of charm and wit.
I appreciated the fact that it wasn't bogged down with too much technical cycling mumbo jumbo and was more of a first hand account of the authors often rip-roaringly acute observations from the saddle.  A colourful read that sucked me right in and if Tokyo to Tokyo is anything to go by, then I shall look forward to Dan's future works.

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book. The book is well written and has it's funny moments but it gets far too repetitive. Bike > See a sight > Sleep > Repeat. Before I'd even got half way through, I had to put it down because it had completely lost my interest.

[Eunsang-Na · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started okay, Slowly became self centered cyclist note just happened to be in Japan. Nothing else. Had to stop reading after realising rolling my eyes so many times while reading this "book". Wasted my time.

[Justin Greggor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, engaging, quirky, honest (sometimes maybe too honest) and just that little bit different from the rest in its genre. The authors humorous observations help give this book a unique touch and style.

[John Heath]

Very enjoyable book. I have done 3 cycles in the last 12 months in Japan. I can't get enough of the place. I don't understand why you didn't go south though instead of North. The cold is bitter but any heat, i've found, is so much better. Maybe because i'm from Australia and you from the UK.

[Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, thought it was unreadable. I got to chapter 4 and couldn’t go further.

[Richie Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun and well written account of a gutsy partaking. 

[Levon Waltby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite a blokey read that made me laugh quite hard in places. I once cycled across Japan myself so could associate with some of the authors experiences. Thoroughly enjoyable.