Review of A Ride in the Neon Sun: A Gaijin in Japan

A Ride in the Neon Sun: A Gaijin in Japan
Average Rating: 2.5 Total Reviews: 15
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great read

On: 2005-07-18

i have lived in japan for the last 20 years, having completed my doctorate in japan, and being married to a japanese woman. i feel as though i may have some qualification to comment on this book, as opposed to the neo-japanologists who may have only spent a year or two in japan. i really enjoyed this book for what it is, a light-hearted and humorous account of a bicycle trip through japan. her accounts are spot on, and i find them even more so after all this time. i cannot agree that she has a racist outlook to the japanese or demeans them in any way. it is just an author describing what she sees, not what you want her to see. i find this refreshing and do not see the need to subscribe to a politically correct format in her style of reporting. she seems a regular person who is out to enjoy a bike ride without the politics.
all in all i can recommend this book for anyone who wants a great travel read or an insight into japan.

Mildly entertaining, but mostly cliched and annoying

On: 2005-01-24

I bought this book to read while I was in Japan on a two-week trip to Tokyo. Let me say up-front that I am definitely not a crunchy-granola adventure traveler-type of person; I like camping trips as long as they last only a weekend and when I vacation I like going to big cities and taking advantage of what a large metropolis has to offer. Maybe that is why I disliked this book so much, because Josie Dew and I are apparently very different.
One thing that annoyed me about the book was how derogatory she was about Japans metropolitan areas, although she seemingly chose to spend a great deal of time in them. She never fully explains how she ended up in Japan for her cycling tour, and yet she complains ad nauseum about how crowded the country is and how hard it was to find unspoiled wilderness and places to camp. Um, I think ANYONE who knows ANYTHING about Japan understands that its crowded over there. I think if she had done ANY research about Japan before going there she would have found out in short order that the place is either largely metropolitan or very mountainous, and because they are an industrial superpower there probably isnt a lot of unspoiled wilderness around Tokyo, Chiba and Yokohama, three of the most densely populated cities in the world. Personally, I loved Tokyo - I loved how busy and bustling it was and could have spent months there seeing all the sights. But maybe that is because I did some homework before my trip and knew what to expect; something Dew obviously didnt do.
The other thing that really annoyed me was something Ive encountered before: the nature enthusiast who gets peeved when he or she discovers that the residents of a foreign land havent kept large swaths of their countryside pristine and hospitable to adventure travelers. Dew complains about how "dirty" some parts of Japan are and how the people in Japan "ruined" some areas that could have been beautiful - well, Josie, probably the people in Japan were more concerned about building their society and furthering their economy than keeping their countryside preserved in a manner that would be acceptable to you, on the off chance you would decide to visit Japan. Her attitude is extremely self-centered and arrogant; she doesnt seem to realize that most people in Japan are trying to make a living and dont have the wherewithal to take off cycling and complaining for several months out of the year.
Finally, my other big gripe with the book is how Dew repeatedly stereotypes and makes fun of the Japanese people who host her in their homes and give her things they could probably ill-afford to part with. She relied heavily on Japanese hospitality and generosity, but acts blithely about it. She definitely wouldnt have been able to make it through Japan without people giving her things, yet in many cases she took things from people who were poor (much poorer than she herself) and yet she doesnt seem appreciative of what people offered her or seem to "get" that their generosity cost them much more than she had the right to ask from them.
Also - some of the cultural information she provides about Japan is plain wrong. She never lists sources for the historical and cultural information she imparts, but whatever her sources were they were highly inaccurate.
This was the first Josie Dew book I read and it will be the last. I just dont have much tolerance for high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou tomes like this where the author makes it clear that anyone who bothered to graduate from college and get a real job is beneath her contempt. I dont know why people like this bother touring foreign places; their attitudes never change no matter what they see or who they meet. According to Dew, industrialization and capitalism = bad and they dont seem to get that capitalism and industrialization is what enables them to be able to tool around on their bikes while other people are working.

Japan, magnet for brainless, aspiring travel writers...

On: 2003-11-17

This book is shockingly poor. The Japan I have lived in for 5 years (as an English teacher) bears no resemblance to the Japan depicted by this trite slab of pulp unworthy of its own binding. Sadly, I realise that this gaijin fool - this blacksmith of gross cultural simplifications, this purveyor of only the best-known cliches - is not alone. Her inadequate, self-flattering account recalls anecdotes I hear from other English teachers. Faced with such defiant, cultural adversity, their love of cultural difference morphs into a reinforced belief in the superiority of their own culture. They love and yet they hate, so why do they stay? My advice to Josie Dew: on yer bike, its time to go home and stay home.

An encyclopaedia of cliches

On: 2003-11-17

Looking forward to a nice fat read, I found myself losing interest after the first 100 pages or so as Ms Dew served up cliche after cliche about Japan and the Japanese (Isnt Tokyo really big and arent Japanese people really small?). One of the weaknesses of this book is the fact that Ms Dew has read several generic texts on Japan and now seems determined to regurgitate every last fact for our benefit. Another is Ms Dews "auto-exotica"; her constant description of herself as a "mad gaijin" or "wild-eyed barbarian" is irritating in its repetition, like a joke you have heard a hundred times. Similarly, she slips into the old, annoying foreigner-in-Japan habit of employing Japanese vocabulary for everyday English words (hence her bicycle is given the honour of becoming "jitensha" for the duration of the book). The latter half of this volume improves in that, having run out of generalisations, Ms Dew gets on with detailing the locations and people she encounters, and this she does beautifully. What a pity, then, to lapse every few pages into "dont the Japanese write funny things on their T-shirts"-mode. This book doesnt fail in its mission because it never really decides what its mission should be- is it a travelogue or a potted-Japan guide book. I bought it as the former and was disappointed when it included much of the latter too. Buy this book if Japan unknown to you- youll enjoy it! If you are not a complete Japan novice, know that what you are getting here is some good and interesting anecdotal writing mixed with a hefty dose of everything you have read before. And the Bill Bryson comparisons? Hmm, I dont think so. Not even the female one.

not good for swatting flies

On: 2003-11-01

i disagree with the user below who said this book is good for swatting flies. it is too heavy--like nuking a flea. however, there are good things in this book. strangely though, it has nothing to do with china as one reader thought. i guess this is a very controversial book. her next one is about the same stuff 2 years later, but is bound to be even more controversial due to some pics of the author bathing au natural in it. it can be used for a door stop if you dont like it.

Is there a point?

by: Anonymous On: 2001-12-27

This kind of book give travel books a bad name, and the reputation of being written by less than brilliant wandering nitwits. Long-winded, shallow and silly, although she pretends to add depth by paraphrasing standard Japanese history lessons and listing a farily accurate Japanese vocabulary section in the rear. No new, ground-breaking observations, just the same stuff that has been said a thousand times, in a thousand ways about 20 years ago. Dont bother, unless you are some sort of a mystery of the Orient... Even then, youll be sorely disappionted.

UNGODLY WONDERFUL

On: 2001-11-30

All I can say is that this book was soo enlightneing and interesting that I have read it 4 times. The excitment, the wonder the thrill as Josie deepens and increases her significant knowledge of China and enlightens the reader upon the kind, thoughtful and always welcoming folk who live there. It makes me want to grab my bike and head west tomorrow.
If you want a good read that is quite deep, but at the same time very light even thought it is a pretty long masterpiece, I suggest you pick a copy up. Youll be thrilled excited and educated all at once. A work of art.

the wheels go 'round

On: 2001-11-01

josie dew is one of my favorite cycling writers, but.... this time she seems to have gone overboard. 700 pages of what seems like a transcribed journal-snore. her first two books are excellent. for a hilarious view of americans, try-"travels in a strange state". i sincerely wish ms. dew a rapid recovery!

useful for swatting flies

by: Anonymous On: 2001-07-17

At the risk of being accused of having "yellow fever"(?) I would say this book is not worth the trouble. If you are interested in understanding Japan, find another, for example one of the Alan Booth books which was written by a person with real knowledge and understanding of Japan and was a far better writer.

Ms. Dew rambled on for millions of pages it seems--well about 700-- and tells nothing new about the country that hasnt been said many times before by those ignorant of the country. Any criticisms are extremely shallow and what you end up with is: the Japanese and Japan are all kind, polite, and wonderful and of course weird, strange and inscrutable in the end. "But thats Japan."

Little about cycling in this book, so it wont likely satisfy the cycling enthusiast. Cycling was just her mode of travel. So there is little useful info about Japan that would satisfy anyone seeking useful, realistic knowledge, and little to satify cyclists. I really cant say what it is good for, but as mentioned earlier, it does contain many news reports from several years ago that were aired on FEN (US Armed Forces radio in Japan.

Pedalling light reading

On: 2000-12-19

Its interesting to note that its people with "yellow fever" (the love of all things Asian) who have leaped to the defense fo Japan just because Miss Dew doesnt have a full cultural awareness of the countries she cycles through. Lighten up people, she is just "passing through" and if you expect to pick up deep cultural insight from what essentially is a light-hearted travelogue then you have very strange expectations.

As it is, Josie paints a very fond picture of Japan and its peoples and its clear she utterly loves the place. Travelogues are as much autobiographical as they concern the country travelled in and I would say the authors failure to understand some aspects of Japanese culture and therefore draw incorrect conclusions is more of a reflection of Josie than of Japan.

Miss Dew does a good job of portraying modern Japan and many of its little idiosyncracies and yes, she does notice and comment on some of its not so-good points much to the irritation of reviewers below who clearly have a lovers blind infatuation with the country. Every country has a bad side but the overwhelming picture from this book is that Japan is a wonderful place to visit and its bad side is minimal. The Japanese tourist industry should be well-pleased at the glowing praise the author lavishes on the country as she describes her extensive bicycle tour about the islands.

The book is satisfyingly long and written in an informail chatty style that is quite engaging. I am deducting stars however for the common problems that afflict modern travel-writing by the young - that is the ending is always rushed and the later destinations are really not well-depicted because of this and also, the tendency of writers to look down on fellow travellers and "dis" them at every opportunity - a problem most acute in backpacker writings. Other than that I highly recommend it.

Excellent book. Funny inciteful and hard to put down!

On: 2000-12-12

I have to say, I disagree with many of the reviews of this title. I found Josie very thoughtful of Japanese contradictions, traditions and ways of life. I bought this book because it was the only travel writing on Japan that looked interesting at the time and I was very pleased. I have bought all of the rest of her books just because I love her style of writing. Its her sense of humour that lightens the situations she faces...

...and guess what? She ends the book to go back home for her brothers wedding...and so she is going to write another one! Japan 2 is the working title. Yay! Buy this NOW and preorder the next!

Long, repetitive, full of fallacies and self-congradulation

On: 2000-10-15

I loved Josie Dews first book, "The Wind in my Wheels" when I read it back in 1990, shortly after a long, solo bicycle tour I took in Europe. She was wide-eyed and playful then, writing solely about the experiences that she met along the way, without trying to define the nature of the countries she encountered. So when Neon Sun came along, naturally I snatched it up at the bookstore here in Tokyo, where I live. At first I had mixed reactions about what I started reading. Here again capered the ever-undaunted sprite of Josie Dew, this time in Japan. However, as the book went on it grew more into a collection of facts than of a bicycle journey. Granted, Dew has done her homework, but nearly all the knowledge in the book is second or third-hand, all strung together to give the impression that Dew is knowledgeable about Japan- which she is decidedly NOT. All she has ended up doing is writing yet ANOTHER "this is Japan" book, by one of those fleeting passersthrough who cant even speak the language.

As someone who has lived in Japan and associated with it for nigh on 31 years (I grew up and worked here altogether 19 years), speaks Japanese, most of whose friends are Japanese, teaches English to Japanese students, loves the country as my own, has Japanese in-laws, and has bicycled in most of the areas that Dew writes about and more, her ignorant statements about what the country is all about infuriated me, because she is perpetuating myths about Japan that are simply not true. A few examples: the Japanese do NOT speak the way she has rendered their English dialogue; "Fuji-san" does NOT mean "honourable Fuji"...(the "san" here is the formal, Chinese reading of the character for mountain, otherwise read as "yama"...Fuji-san should not be called "Fujiyama" as so many westerners mistakenly read the characters); counter to Dews proclamation, the Japanese LOVE camping (go to any bookstore and peruse the magazine racks); and all women are NOT subservient to men here (to imply so is deeply insulting to women and men in Japan, an arrogance that attempts to render them as somehow not modern or "liberated"...go DEEPLY into the daily culture of the people before you judge them..that means speak to them in THEIR language, on their terms, women and men included..I doubt that in Dews tiny period in Japan that any of her hosts felt intimate enough to open such controversial issues with her, especially because most Japanese know how vehemently westerners feel about the issues). The scene that finally was the last straw for me was when Dew was staying with Motoharu and Hiromi Nakashima. One evening Mrs. Nakashima asks that Dew sit down with her husband for a conversation. Because Mrs. Nakashima does not join them, Dew immediately interprets it as Mr. Nakashimas acting the chauvinist male. But reading the way the conversation ensued, I gathered that Mr. Nakashima was trying to conduct a very serious talk with her, from an elder to a younger person, about his and Mrs. Nakashimas worry about her safety. Having Mrs. Nakashima out of the room signified that they probably didnt want to embarress Dew with weight of what they wanted to say by having too many people in the room. That is why Mrs. Nakashima moved about so quietly. When the conversation touched upon the difference between GB-UK, that was probably just an ice-breaker, something to make convesation before launching into what Mr. Nakashima thought was a serious matter. What hit me was when confronted with the problem of GB-UK, Dew couldnt even give an educated reply, spewing an inanity like, "Why couldnt Motoharu ask me something easy, like how many ball-bearings did I have in the fixed cup of my bottom bracket?" And here she is, a whole 689 pages of knowing all about Japan, and she cant even answer a simple question about her own culture! I threw the book down on the floor in disgust.

There are better travel books about Japan out there, namely Alan Booths "The Roads to Sata", and better bicycle journey books, like Tom Vernons "A Fat Man On a Bicycle" or Dervla Murphys bicycle books.

I have been close to Japan all my life and have met and read stories by countless people who claim to know all about Japan, and yet have spent very little time here or cannot speak the language. It is hard to understand why such people are taken seriously in America and Europe. Surely such people, if they were to make such statements about countries in Europe or North America, would be laughed out of the publishing industry? Japan is not an "exotic" place. It is a place of human beings, not so different from any one else.

If you like long, tedious and shallow books--this is for you

by: Anonymous On: 2000-10-10

Ive been a cyclist and bicycle touring book fan for years, as well as a resident of Japan. I dont really know how to classify this overly long book (689 total pages). Ms. Dew spends more time attempting to explain her view of Japan and the Japanese than she does writing about the actual cycling. This is fine, but unfortunately, most of what she says about Japan has been written again and again by short-term tourists who get a very shallow glimpse of Japan and then "explain" it to everyone else. She seems fascinated by the mostly nonsensical English phrases she sees everywhere and reproduces much of it with nausiating frequency. Nothing new here, its just that focusing on this has more or less died out over the last decade.

All of the Japanese she meets who speak English at all, seem to do so in a way that anyone who has spent much time in Japan will think is unusual. It appears she either reconstructed the "quotes", or made them up entirely. "Japanese food is in my dreaming sicknessing you" is not likely the way that Japanese English learners speak. (Yes, anyone who has ever taught English here, or lived here for a few years can tell). The book is full of this.

On of the most irritating aspects is her habit of writing page after page of details of news stories she heard on FEN (the US Armed Forces radio service), or other English language radio programs. They have no relationship to the story, and only serve to let the reader know that she was in Japan several years ago.

There are many other problems with this book, but I guess it would be a good read for a long plane trip--perhaps to Japan from the Eatern US--if you have no knowledge of Japan and if you can find nothing better. If you are interested in cycling, you can do much better too.

Oh, and her repeated joke about the guidebook phrase "Well, by gosh, Im from Missouri" is NOT what the Japanese phrase means. And SHE makes fun-intentially or not--of the Japanese English!

A Great Ride!

On: 2000-09-29

I loved this book so much when I borrowed a copy from our local library that I had to buy my own copy! Josie Dews book was enjoyable from start to finish, even though I am not a bike rider! She paints a wonderful picture of Japan and the warmth the Japanese people showed her. If you love Japan youll love this book!

2,900 Miles in Japan by Bike

On: 2000-09-09

Oppressive heat and humidity, choking truck fumes, voracious mosquitoes, howling typhoons, uninspired concrete architecture, venomous snakes....why, I kept asking myself as I read this book, would anybody choose to do a bike tour of Japan? Actually, the ever-optimistic Ms. Dew hadnt planned to either, but managed to take a wrong turn on the way to New Zealand and wound up spending 4 months exploring the many Japanese islands. In the rainy season.

This is Josies 3rd book on cycling in various places around the world. Those familiar with her previous works (both very highly recommended also) may find this book a little more on the serious side. It is also much longer and more detailed.

Despite having a near-useless phrase book ("Well, by gosh, I am from Missouri"), she manages to get along quite well with the language and quickly becomes very knowledgeable about the local customs. Some of her descriptions of the language interchanges are hilarious.

Josie cant seem to cycle more than a few kilometers without somebody foisting food and/or drink upon her, and always without any ulterior motives. The Japanese are fascinated at seeing a petite, young, attractive, blonde woman cycling alone and always manage to assume she is American. (Shes English.) She is constantly being taken in and mothered by families which gives her a special exposure to the culture most of us will never have the chance to experience. The book does an excellent job of shattering many of the western stereotype views of Japan and the Japanese.

As usual, Josie manages to skewer most of the Americans she meets, mostly because of their lack of desire to explore the complexities of the Japanese culture.

The book includes clever maps of her routes, many excellent color photos, a humorous (and convenient) glossary of Japanese words, and an amusing index. She also includes a complete list of what to take along should you be inclined to attempt a long term bike trip. (My only question is how did she ever fit all that gear on her bike?)

While the book made me realize that doing a bike trip in Japan was not my cup of tea, it was entertaining to read of her adventures without experiencing the heat and humidity, not to mention the mosquitoes and snakes. It certainly would be an excellent read for anyone planning a trip to Japan by any mode of transportation. And if you have half the success she did in obtaining free food and lodging, it would be a cheap trip indeed.