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A Ride In The Neon Sun: A Gaijin in Japan
Fast paced and humorous, Josie Dew's sometimes absurd experiences riding through Japan are delightfully recorded in A ride in the Neon Sun. Cycle enthusiast or not, anyone considering a trip to Japan would do well to prepare themselves with this book. A Ride in the Neon Sun, informative and coupled with the author's social observations, provides the reader with a true picture of a country and its people. Josie Dew embraces the culture of Japan in a whirlwind Tour de Nippon, told from the saddle of her bicycle.
For the tested Far-Eastern traveller or the tourist ready to venture further afield, A Ride in the Neon Sun is an eye-opening account of a " 'Gaijin', (foreigner) in Japan." Dew's social observations are honest and detailed. Her appreciation and acceptance of the bizarre epitomise the open-mindedness with which one must explore different cultures. Dew takes us on a wonderful yet wacky trip around Japan. She does not simply list the events as they happen, but instead explains the Whys?, Whens? and Hows?.
From Tokyo to Yokohama, armed with an ineffectual phrasebook including key conversation pieces such as: "Well, by gosh, I am from Missouri" and her trusty bicycle, the reader is introduced to all that is Japan. A Ride in the Neon Sun is set to follow in the successful slipstream of her previous books, The Wind in My Wheels, (Shortlisted for the 1992 British Books Travel Writer of the Year Award.) and Travels in a Strange State. --Jon Smith
689 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
20 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 9, 2009
One of the more inspiring books I've read in recent years. Josie Dew has a great sense of the written word. She's funny, poignant, and weaves history and the clash and merge of cultures into her stories of travel and adventure. This book, of her ride around Japan, is wonderful. A must read for the traveler, the traveler at heart, Japanophiles, and bicycle lovers everywhere.
November 13, 2012
Josie Dew's travelogues are always immensely enjoyable to read, but this one I particularly appreciated for the unique insight into Japan. Partly owing to her small stature (she says so herself!) and partly to her (for the Japanese) unsual form of travel, the responses she brings out in people reveal quite a different side to Japan than we in the West are usually exposed to. Highly recommended!
February 21, 2022
wat een avontuurlijke dame! zonder uitgestippeld plan of voorbereiding qua taal trekt ze erop uit om vijf maanden door japan te fietsen. komt onderweg ontzettend veel gastvrijheid, onbetaalbaar fruit en tyfoons tegen. veel japanners snappen niet waarom ze alleen reist, ik denk het echter wel te snappen. de ontmoetingen die haar aan komen waaien! je bent toch ook nooit alleen op deze aardbol.
prachtig geschetst en prachtig vertaald! het was alsof ik in een van de fietstassen verstopt zat en meegluurde over de schouder. ook leuk, het stuk over de tyfoon las ik tijdens de storm hier. toeval bestaat niet!
prachtig geschetst en prachtig vertaald! het was alsof ik in een van de fietstassen verstopt zat en meegluurde over de schouder. ook leuk, het stuk over de tyfoon las ik tijdens de storm hier. toeval bestaat niet!
September 8, 2013
Delightful, just delightful. Josie makes the reader feel that they are with her.If you are wanting to get into this type of travel, this book will convince you.
August 23, 2020
Written in the 90s, when Japan was a different place. It is a doorstep of a book, but a fun travelogue on slow gears. What makes this book stand out is her trip to the southern islands of Okinawa and beyond. You don't usually get mention of the lesser islands.
August 17, 2011
A little difficult to get into, given what my sister calls "death by adjective". But in the end thoroughly "unputdownable".
Want to read
July 31, 2011Tried to finish the book, but was not able to given the busy schedule :( nevertheless, hope to get the chance to borrow it again.
May 17, 2017
This tough cookie gets tougher. Luvved what she did to the flasher at the end. hahahahahaha. walks her bike on very narrow paths through tunnels alongside GIANT lorries. scary. I feel her fear - but being afraid and scared are food&drink to Josie. Wonderful descriptions of the beautiful Japan. Outrage at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Insights into the Sumo mindset. She gets into the psyche of the inscrutable Japanese. Their generosity and their trust of this intrepid European woman is universal. Found her website and she's still attit - accompanied by her children http://www.josiedew.com/
January 18, 2024
Very skeptical at first. Did not like this at all for at least a quarter of the book. I don't know if it was the writing style, the author's sense of humor or something else entirely, but I was only pushing through because of the wonderful insights of a foreigner in Japan during the 2000's. I learned a lot through her experiences, mistakes and encounters that were very detailed. I warmed up to the book and ended up enjoying it, but I don't think I'd read this again.
Read
February 26, 2020Quite a long read, for what is in essence a diary of a happy-go-lucky-lady in Japan - becoming frustrated by the utter niceness and generosity of the Japanese. Going to Japan (in stead of New Zealand) in the rainy season, followed by blistering sun, cycling through cityscapes and busy roads is not my idea of fun - but it has a certain je ne sais quoi...
March 25, 2021
As an avid Japan-fan I loved this book. The small details like the hospitality of Japanese people and the rooms in minshukus and ryokans, of which I many recognize due to my own 8 times in Japan (but lazy, by train) are so wonderful, it's a great way of thinking back and dreaming about the next time (covid go away!).
November 5, 2023
Josie writes in an entertaining manner, albeit a bit repetitive since she happens to be in Japan in typhoon season, cycling in horrible weather past concrete buildings being helped by kind Japanese people speaking bad English which she points out time and again...
June 11, 2023
Appallingly racist from the first few pages in. I did not read any further.
August 25, 2016
Not for me. Starts off great (the first 100 pages or so). But by the time I'd got about 300 pages through this 600-something-page book, I realised Dew was simply rehashing the same jokes and observations over and over again:
1) Tunnels are awful
2) Japan is overcrowded
3) Boy, aren't the Japanese small and don't they talk funny
4) She is a big awkward foreigner
5) Her Japanese is terrible
6) She is a lone female cyclist and therefore an object of much fascination
7) It's hard to find a camping spot
8) It rains a lot in the rainy season
At first these jokes/observations are amusing/interesting but after the twentieth time it's repeated, it gets a little stale. There's no real sense of place or of genuine interest in Japan and the Japanese either (as compared to, for example, Fuchsia Dunlop's wonderful descriptions of China in Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, or Miranda Emmerson's observations of the countries she travels through in Fragrant Heart), rather there's a sort of slightly-superior fondness with no depth to it.
Also, Dew share pretty much every single thing ever that happens to her - including visits to various toilets and supermarkets. A couple of these are interesting - musical toilet rolls and finding Quaker Oats in a Japanese supermarket for example - but otherwise it's a case of too much information.
Dew's 'self-deprecating' humour and 'clever twists' on words, after 300 pages of the stuff, become irritating. She's like one of those people who continually put themselves down only to have others say nice stuff about them. And her observations of the Japanese often veer from 'fond' into the territory of patronising.
She's a good writer, but I think this book was more focused on being 'funny' travelogue all about ew and her bike rather than a book about *Japan*. It's not entirely her fault though, the book was badly edited - could have been at least 300 pages shorter, and they could have removed at least 10 pages if they took out all the references to her visits to toilets and supermarkets and descriptions of every single tunnel she went through ever and the rain.
I gave up after skimming pages 300-450, (there were some worthwhile bits) and then flicking through the last couple hundred pages and thinking 'why bother'.
1) Tunnels are awful
2) Japan is overcrowded
3) Boy, aren't the Japanese small and don't they talk funny
4) She is a big awkward foreigner
5) Her Japanese is terrible
6) She is a lone female cyclist and therefore an object of much fascination
7) It's hard to find a camping spot
8) It rains a lot in the rainy season
At first these jokes/observations are amusing/interesting but after the twentieth time it's repeated, it gets a little stale. There's no real sense of place or of genuine interest in Japan and the Japanese either (as compared to, for example, Fuchsia Dunlop's wonderful descriptions of China in Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, or Miranda Emmerson's observations of the countries she travels through in Fragrant Heart), rather there's a sort of slightly-superior fondness with no depth to it.
Also, Dew share pretty much every single thing ever that happens to her - including visits to various toilets and supermarkets. A couple of these are interesting - musical toilet rolls and finding Quaker Oats in a Japanese supermarket for example - but otherwise it's a case of too much information.
Dew's 'self-deprecating' humour and 'clever twists' on words, after 300 pages of the stuff, become irritating. She's like one of those people who continually put themselves down only to have others say nice stuff about them. And her observations of the Japanese often veer from 'fond' into the territory of patronising.
She's a good writer, but I think this book was more focused on being 'funny' travelogue all about ew and her bike rather than a book about *Japan*. It's not entirely her fault though, the book was badly edited - could have been at least 300 pages shorter, and they could have removed at least 10 pages if they took out all the references to her visits to toilets and supermarkets and descriptions of every single tunnel she went through ever and the rain.
I gave up after skimming pages 300-450, (there were some worthwhile bits) and then flicking through the last couple hundred pages and thinking 'why bother'.
May 29, 2015
Read in Dutch several years ago. I really enjoyed Josie's interactions with the locals who insisted on giving her little presents all the time. It was particularly interesting to read about the cultural differences in different parts of Japan. It was really helpful having a map to refer to and I especially liked the glossary of Japanese words. I was going to read this and pass it on through BookCrossing, but ended up keeping it. It's become my go-to book when I want to look at a map of Japan or check the Japanese word for thank you or when my son claims to know some Japanese from watching anime.
December 29, 2013
A nice adventure story based on the experiences of a Japan novice. Not all of the book is wonderfully accurate with preference given to over-reliance on stereotypes. But the situations described are those that a culturally-ignorant novice would realistically be expected to encounter. And she's a good writer too.
July 17, 2014
Josie Dew writes amusing and informative travel books, peppered with personal anecdotes.
I enjoyed her insights into the Japanese culture and people and her writing style is comfortable and easy flowing. Recommended if you're thinking of visiting Japan.
I enjoyed her insights into the Japanese culture and people and her writing style is comfortable and easy flowing. Recommended if you're thinking of visiting Japan.
January 8, 2015
A wonderful travelogue from a perspective I haven't often seen in travel writing. Interesting characters abound, and a jovial look into the world of cultural and language barriers.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews