Walking Along the Ancient Tokaido Road: A Pilgrim's Path: Adventures and Transformations (Vol.1: Departure)

Most of the books I read are illustrated books—architecture, mainly, but other subjects too. While I don’t buy such illustrated books that are self-published, I’m always hoping to come across one whose values in editing, image reproduction, and page design come close to traditional publishing—perhaps signaling that, as publishers put out fewer illustrated books each year over the year before, there is a future for illustrated books to be found in self-publishing. This is not that book.

The author’s account of walking from Tokyo to Shizuoka along the Tokaido Road (the first of three such books (!), extending all the way to Kyoto) is in dire need of an(other) editor to help keep him on point and make his statements clearer. Some show more of the many photos he took make me wonder what they’re meant to show or question why they’re even in the book, but some are truly captivating, only to suffer from poor reproduction in color and contrast. Some of the page layouts seem more accidental than actually designed, though I did appreciate that text and corresponding images tend to be found on the same page or spread, not pages apart as I’ve encountered in many books from traditional publishers.

But my biggest issue with the book is just not being able to grasp its point or its justification for being. It is a memoir/travelogue that follows the Tokaido Road famously depicted by Hiroshige in woodcut prints of 53 stations between Tokyo and Kyoto. While the author includes the appropriate paintings for this book’s stretch, they are not found until the back of the book and they come with captions that don’t reveal much more beyond what readers see with their own eyes. Encountering these images after reading the author’s equal-parts physical and mental account of the journey made me think he should have integrated these two parts of the book, not separated them: showing/discussing the path as it is today (or in 2006, when he did the walk) and then, when Hiroshige beautifully depicted the people and places along Tokaido Road. Such a book would have made a lot more sense and probably been a lot more interesting—one I might have recommended to others, unlike the version the author created. show less

This book doesn't fit neatly into any genre: its various parts could be described as travelogue, personal philosophy, cultural history of pre-modern Japan, photography book, and ukiyo-e art book. The various sections are not especially integrated into a coherent whole, so it's a bit difficult to understand the connections. It's described as "volume 1", although it's not clear why the work was separated into multiple parts nor how many there are. I came away with a much better sense of what the sections of trail the author hiked look like (and how that region was depicted by Hiroshige in the early 19th century) than exactly where the author was or what his hike was actually like. Overall, this seemed a bit more serious than a vanity show more project, but less coherent than a better-edited travel book. Still not without merits, but a bit of a mess that would have benefited from an ordered structure.

I received this book as a free advanced reading copy, but this review is my own opinion. show less

Interesting blend of history, travel guide and personal experience. Would have been good to have more context about all of that at the start though.

This is an interesting book with a lot of beautiful pictures. I learned a lot about Japan an its history. But honestly, it’s not a book I would consider buying.

The author has written a Japanese travelogue about his discoveries in today’s modern landscapes along the ancient Tokaido Road. The author’s pilgrimage is supported by photographs with descriptions.

I particularly enjoyed the “Appendix: Ukiyo-e by Utagawa Hiroshige’s Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road (Shinagawa – Fuchu)” with reproductions and descriptions of the Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock prints.

Lastly, I learned a very small amount about Japanese culture thru the author’s understanding on the views from walking along the Tokaido Road (both modern times & his understanding about the Edo-period laws, rules and conduct) in Japanese history.

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Huh. Not really a pilgrimage or a travel journal or ....anything i have read. Seemingly random thoughts at several stations along an ancient pilgrimage, seemingly from a random person. A book without purpose, or message.

The description of the book is more in depth than the book itself.