Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #636853 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Review
'Dew writes a lively, entertaining and informative narrative and combines acute observations of Japan with an infectious passion for cycling' - DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Dew is armed with a fierce sense of survival and courage...Overall, Japan is seen as a tremendously welcoming country, discovered by a witty and intrepid traveller' - GEOGRAPHICAL

From the Publisher
Armed with only her bike and a great sense of humor, Josie Dew returns to Japan for a second dose of its eccentric and mysterious culture. Japan is a land of contradictions, where snow–capped mountains and picturesque gardens are but a stone’s throw away from concrete, cars, and dense pollution; a country whose keyword is peace, yet spends millions each year on high–tech armament. But wherever she goes, Josie encounters the friendly, quirky, and generous Japanese people, from those who lavishly bestow her with cabbages and cans of Pocari Sweat to the couple who left her the key to their shop, telling her to sleep by the till!

About the Author
Josie has cycled 280,000 miles across 43 countries, some by accident. The survivor of 5 continents, several wonky knees and a handful of worn-out bottom brackets, she is still firmly fixed in the saddle.

Customer Reviews

A Cycletourist's Perspective
Amazon seems to have several negative reviews of Josie Dew's books that I find baffling. I've just finished a second book of hers (Sun in My Eyes) and thought it was excellent. Perhaps other reviewers haven't spent days (and weeks) cycling over mountains and through rainstorms. Josie Dew seems to do this with aplomb, and her writing is interesting and full of informative detail about Japan.

In fact, Ms. Dew is full of praise for rural Japan and the overwhelming generosity of the people that she encountered. She has done her homework in researching the history of Japan and interweaving it through her story in an interesting way.

The best compliments are that I was sorry to see the book end, that I plan to buy others of her books, and that her book inspires me to try a cycling trip to Japan.

Very entertaining!
I too cannot understand the negative review. This book is highly amusing and informative. Now that I have sampled the author's style, I'll read more of her books.

Stop her before she writes another
A buddy lent this to me to read on a trip. I had read her other Japan book and thought it was horrible. This one has improved little, although this time she did not spend page after page reporting on what the Armed Forces radio was playing. She has turned into a Japan explainer of the type we had years ago and thought we were rid of when the "revisionist school" became accepted. Well, now we have a quasi bike story and a quasi chrysanthinum club J-apologist hybrid. Overly long, nothing new or deep about Japan. Not much a a travel tale either. ...