Hokkaido Highway Blues

It's hard to talk about Japan when all I can think of is Véronique. Right now, her friends in Hamamatsu are at the funeral hall for her wake. The funeral will be tomorrow. And I wish I was there. But that can't be, so here I am, and I'm going to tell you all about Hokkaido Highway Blues. Will Ferguson's book about hitchhiking from the Southernmost tip of Japan to the far North is a travelogue. It's full of humour and interesting characters, but I found it's got more heart than a Bill Bryson book. Before embarking on his adventure, Ferguson lived and worked in Japan for a number of years. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with the Japanese - one of his questions is "Are the Japanese arrogant or insecure?" - but by the end of his journey, you get a real sense that he has developed a genuine fondness for the country and its people. I only read this book after I came back from our holiday. Having spent only 2 weeks there, I can't claim a deep knowledge of the Japanese - the fact that one man in a Kyoto Starbucks got up and went to another table when we sat next to him doesn't make all the Japanese xenophobe. And the fact that another man in a Narita Airport Starbucks was quite happy for us to sit beside him doesn't make them all welcoming to foreigners! (And yes, we did go to a few Starbucks on our trip - Brendan loves their coffee, I like their Hot Chocolate (I tried a Macha Latte, but I wasn't that impressed), and it's the perfect spot to rest your legs and watch the world go by.). One of my best friends since I was a teenager is Japanese, and we write to each other regularly, but we've only met each other twice. But after reading this book, I felt I wanted to get to know the Japanese people better. That, surely, is a sign of a worthwhile read.