Hokkaido Highway Blues-C

The author had been teaching English in Japan for two years before he decided to hitchhike from one end of Japan to the other and then write about it. His goal was to follow the trail of cherry blossoms that, at the start of spring, crest in a wave from Cape Sata in the south to Cape Soya in the far north. Ferguson hitchhiked with ""a decidedly limited arsenal of Japanese, most of which seemed to revolve around drinking and the weather."" Although many of the people he encountered not only went out of their way to transport him long distances, offering him meals and opening their homes to him, there were times when he was treated as if he were a stereotypical Westerner. After a sailor called him ""Henna gaijin!"" (""Weird foreigner!""), Ferguson replied by asking the sailor whether he was Korean. This is one of a few incidents throughout the book that touch on Japan's caste system, which stigmatizes Japanese-born ethnic Chinese and Koreans. Most of the writing, however, is less concerned with social issues, and the general tone of the book is irreverent as Ferguson encounters wild monkeys, visits the famed Bridge of Heaven and shares a drunken, emotional evening with a former soldier who had been a POW captured by the Americans during WWII. It all makes for a pleasingly witty and offbeat travelogue. (Dec.)