My Travels in Japan: A Comic Book Artist's Amazing Journey

by Audry Nicklin

A charming guide to Japan in comic-book form!

For comic-book artist Audry Nicklin, her visit to Japan was the trip of a lifetime. However, she only had ten days to see everything she had dreamed of! Armed with her watercolors and accompanied by her husband, Connor, she explored Hiroshima and its Peace Memorial Park; the famous red-gated shrine at Miyajima; Himeji Castle; neon-lit Osaka; the ancient temples of Mount Koya, Nara, and Kyoto; and the crowded streets and leafy parks of Tokyo.

The highlights of Audry's grand tour of Japan

With cute illustrations and entertaining commentary from the artist, this book will appeal to manga fans and anyone who loves Japan. Practical tips are included for those interested in painting on location.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Japan, Graphic Novels, Memoir, Comics, Travelogue

128 pages, Hardcover

Published August 16, 2022

Reviews

[Dakota Morgan]

My Travels in Japan exactly fits the specifications. Audry Nicklin illustrates a trip to Japan in beautiful watercolors while outlining each day's adventures. It really is little more than a travel diary, textually - there's barely any heft to the book. Still, I learned quite a bit about tourism in Japan and it certainly gave me an itch to go. You bet I want to collect stamps from each train station!

[Faidz Zainal Abidin]

Great illustrations.

[Karine Lelièvre]

Very lovely book told in a fun way

[Sarah]

This is a fun little book. It really is all about the author's trip to Japan, which she visited with her husband and chronicled with watercolor paintings. There are lots of paintings of buildings, food, and manhole covers. It was a quick read and made me want to visit Japan, but also reminded me how unpleasant and exhausting travel can be.

[Izzati]

I didn't expect much initially because I have read a similar book, but I really enjoyed this comic book! And even though I have travelled a lot in Japan, somehow this book managed to make me feel like travelling to Japan again, but to places I have yet to visit.

It was easy to read, beautiful, not convoluted with too many information and yet full of interesting anecdotes. But the best part of it for me is the tips such as on which side of the Shinkansen you should sit to see Mount Fuji, how to get Nara deers to bow when you give them crackers, how to know the differences between a geisha and a maiko, and how to start your own travel journal!

If you enjoy comic books about travelling and love Japan in particular, this book might be worth your time.

[Rae]

I'm going to Japan again in a couple of months and this time we're going to Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara, so I was hoping to read a bit more about those cities. This book was very elementary, to the point that I checked to see if it was intended for children. The writing and the art were quite juvenile, with only a few of the watercolor pieces being worth looking at for longer than a passing glance. The author seemed kind of dumb. I don't know, I feel like I'm just being mean now, but I didn't get much from this read.

One notable thing is that she includes some advice for creating an artistic travel journal, so I could imagine this book being of interest to people who like to draw/paint on location as they travel.

[Maya]

The book was a lovely read . Nice pictures / sketches and trivia about stamps and manhole covers . Japan has been on my bucket list including Shinkansen and the bento boxes on the train . Should start at planning soon . This is not a detailed tourist how to but more of a lovely Pinterest board kind of thing .

PSC : twin city 2 : Tokyo is mentioned . Tokyo is the sister city for London as per Wikipedia

[Bella]

The pictures are beautiful. There are some gorgeous one and two-page spreads.

Because the story is a non-fiction chronological recount I found jumping between very awful things (lots of memorials to horrific acts) and, for example, what they ate for dinner, quite jarring. I would have preferred less accuracy in favour of a more cohesive narrative arc.

[michelle]

stumbled upon this book during my stay at lamp light book hotel in nagoya. It's a great book for a quick read with beautiful illustrations.

the content is engaging and relatable, ie, figuring out public transport in japan :)

[Rachel Gordon]

This book is so delightful! I hope she writes more like this. I also appreciate that she offers real concrete advice on traveling with art supplies for anyone who wants to do something similar (or wishes they had the skills for it, like some of us).

[Kelly]

The illustrations are so cute and beautiful!

Thanks for the tips on the various stamp books in Japan! I'm going to make sure I take my own sketch/paint kit with me the next time I travel.

[angelofmine1974]

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/R5GIHqmpwPg

Enjoy!

[David Thomas]

Great illustrated travelogue about Japan. The art is mostly pretty good. It was full of little details, like a park where the wild deer had learned to bow in exchange for crackers.

[Sarah Goldberg]

This made me excited to go to Japan someday. The watercolor drawings were the best part.

[Gayathri]

Delightfully charming! Beautiful illustrations and a fun read. Also, not run of mill locations but some interesting ones too.

[M Aghazarian]

This was sweet. Lighthearted even though some heavier subjects (in Japanese history) were mentioned. Beautiful watercolors.

[Barbara]

A trip through Japan told through illustrations and text.

[Lexi Stolberg]

found in the lamp light books hotel 🇯🇵

[Elizabeth Chew]

Delightful illustrations and entertaining commentary of an inspiring trip to Japan. More please!

[zeynep]

Beautiful, beautiful paintings. Always in awe of artsy talent. This is a storybook, guidebook, and an art book in one—with occasional historical and cultural facts. Made me realize how much I actually missed seeing while in Japan but lots of ideas for the next trip. Loved it.

[Delphine]

Editions française : Destination Japon