The Roads To Sata

One of the books I read in the mid-1980s, before I went to Japan myself, was Alan Booth's The Roads to Sata. At the time, it was one of maybe four books in the Austin Library collection written by foreigner's in Japan and the only contemporary one. (The others were Clara's Diary, A Diplomat's Wife in Japan, Windows for the Crown Prince).

Strangely, I've never owned a copy before, although I've acquired all the others. But today, I got a brand-new paperback from Daedalus Books for the exceptionally low price of $3.98 (originally ￥1500). It's a Weatherhill import and still has the paper pricetag/bookmark that you find in books in Japanese book stores.

In those days, I used to keep notes on all the books I read, and write out my favorite quotes. I found them again and include them below. I wonder what will impress me about the book on second reading, especially now that I've been to Japan.

Excerpts

Communities in Japan have effective ways of warning you that you've slept too long. There are sirens that blast you out of your futon--your bedding--just as dawn has broken, foghorns in the coastal villages, and complete loudspeaker systems that broadcast favorite melodies like "Sakura, Sakura" and "Colonel Bogey". p 7

I suppose there are still countries where children walk seven or eight kilometers to school. They must be very undeveloped. In properly developed countries, the inhabitants regard walkers with grave suspicion and have taught their dogs to do the same. p 27

The narrow road to the city of Murakami runs through tunnels hewn out of the naked cliffs, propped up with raw black timbers and the Nippon Ichi signs stand half-buried in the piles of beer cans and broken bottles that Japanese visitors seem not to see. It is a marvelous gift, the ability to treat the inconvenient as though it wasn't there. Beside a mound of stinking rubbish so huge that it had spilled out of three large trash cans a middle-aged couple stood taking snapshots, saying: "Isn't it pretty!" "Isn't it fine!" pp 42-43

I have often wondered why people who strive to depict the Japanese as quaint have never resorted to the Red Indian ploy. The written character for "moon," for instance is the same as the written character for "month" so the Japanese, like the Hollywood redskins, speak of things happening "many moons ago." To my knowledge, no one -- not even the most frantic quaintifier -- has ever translated the expression that way...p. 106

The ri, the old Japanese measure of distance, has disappeared entirely from road signs and maps, and within ten years it will vanished from the language. One ri, say the conversion tables, equaled 3.927 kilometers, but that is nearly irrelevant. One ri―as I came to know in practice -- was the distance that a man with a burden would aim to cover in an hour on mountain roads. The kilometer was invented for the convenience of machinery. The ri was an entirely human measure, which is why it had no chance of surviving. We tell the time in digits and bleeps, and distance is not distance if you can't divide it by ten.pp 14-15

Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
April 12, 2003

Comments

I read The Roads To Sata last month during my loooong train trip up to Hirosaki. It was the perfect companion on 30 hours of local trains. It was also a good antidote to the thoughts on Japan swimming through my head upon finishing Alex Kerr's Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Modern Japan.

Comment by: mike. Posted April 12, 2003 09:06 PM.

I bought The Roads to Sata before my first trip here in 1997, but have to admit that I never got through all of it. But I did keep it and bring it with me to Japan, and before my recent trip to Kanazawa, I dug it out to see if Booth had made it there, and read his all-too-brief description of passing through there, as well as heretofore unknown information like "Ura Nihon" (the derogatory name for the northern Sea of Japan coastal area). Although the book was written nearly 20 years ago, his description of his visit to Kenrokuen (the famous Japanese garden/park in Kanazawa) was spot on with my experience. And I loved his description (near there, perhaps just before Kanazawa or just after) about Sadaharu Oh hitting his homerun to break Aaron's record (?).... Uh, I need to read the whole thing, obviously....

Comment by: Kurt. Posted April 14, 2003 01:04 AM.

I began rereading it last night. I wish I could distill my memories of Japan with the succinct and insightful touch of Alan Booth. I keep coming across passages where I gasp in recognition, "So that's where I first read that!"

I really credit this book with preparing me for life in modern, rural Japan. Thanks to Alan Booth I wasn't surprised by the town public address systems playing the morning and evening songs, by the trash at scenic landscapes, by the loudspeakers everywhere barking daily specials, by the shouts of schoolboys yelling "Ziss izza pen.", by the stares of people surprised to see a foreigner, or by the incredible friendliness of Japanese country folk.

It's all there. I can stop writing now. No need to waste your time here. If you want to know about Japan, go read Alan Booth.

Comment by: M. Posted April 14, 2003 01:18 PM.

Dunno who you guys are but I stopped by here in my search for Alan Booth, as I just turned the last page to "Roads to Sata." I lived in Osaka from 1988-93 and was intrigued by his book. I didn't manage to make it out to the countryside much, but many of his observations ring very true. I feel his exasperation with some of the more ignorant folk but also remember that my experience was very different--no one really ever bothered me badly except for the drunken old man who pushed my leg off my knee on a late night train, saying "Koko Nippon da! Koko Nippon da!" Otherwise, even schoolkids left me alone. I was hoping to track down his family and tell them how much I liked the book, but this is just as good. Cheers, Nick

Comment by: Nicholas Robinson. Posted April 12, 2004 06:12 PM.

I read 'The Roads to Sata' after returning from Japan and Alan booth's experiences were similar to my own written about in a letter (link below) I was so disappointed/sad that such a kindred spirit had passed away. I grieved as though I knew him thru his book.

Please read my experiences via the link: http://www.nicestories.com/unreg/s/story.php?id=3148

Comment by: John Ahern. Posted January 24, 2005 11:33 PM.

Good comments here. I was in Japan from 90-97 and am going back for a JR rail pass extravaganza after an 8 year absence. Absence truly makes the heart grow fonder because I was definately of the "Dogs and Demons" view of Japan when I left but now I have an aching heart for what I now realize was an irreplacable set of amazing experiences. I hope to use Alan Booth's wonderful book (s) as a starting point for a renewed relationship with the most paradoxical of nations.

Comment by: Brian Bailey. Posted March 18, 2005 07:34 PM.

Never met him, but I too grieve for his absence, he writes from the heart with great humour and he loved beer! He is an old friend that I never met.

Comment by: Barry Newman. Posted July 10, 2005 05:39 AM.

This may be my favorite book of all time. I am an avid reader but have never enjoyed something as thoroughly as the several times I've read this. I didn't get to know Alan's work until he was near death and writing about it in one of the local English papers (Asaha Evening News?). I'll never forget the goodbye article he wrote to his daughter...I lived in Tokyo for 12 years and Alan simply had Japan pegged. The humor, the beauty, the contradictions are all preciously recorded with the kind of insight that most of us just stand back and marvel at. He outdid Bill Bryson at his own game and that's saying somethign as Bryson is one of the greats. I salute one of the great all-time writers that never had a chance to become that. You could do worse than buy a cold bottle of beer, a bag of dried squid and spend a weekend really getting to know Japan from a western perspective.

Comment by: michael goshey. Posted December 8, 2006 09:34 AM.

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