Hitching Rides with Buddha

I just finished reading Will Ferguson's "Hitching Rides With Buddha" a story about his hitchhiking journey the length of Japan in the late 90s. He travels from Cape Sata in the south to Cape Soya at the north. He makes this trek in coordination with the seasonal wave of the cherry blossoms that begin in the warm south and move northward as the spring warmth moves north. Ferguson is a Canadian that lived in Japan for five years teaching English and being mistaken for an American. He speaks Japanese well enough to have many interesting conversations with the people that give him rides. Hitchhiking is not a common practice in Japan so the people that tend to stop for him are a bit unusual - for Japanese. Ferguson is a humorous writer so the book is entertaining as well as enlightening. Watch for his chapter on Japan's rudest city - it may be the best part.