When I was setting up this blog I saw the amazon ad for a book called "
Jitensha: Down the Japanese Archipelago on a Bicycle
" by Donald R Schlief. Wow an ad that is some what relevant to my Blog amazing! So I bought a copy of this book. I read it while i was camping in NY state last month and I finished it recently.
私がこのブログを始めたときに横のリンクに自転車と言う本の広告がありました。実際のブログの内容に合った広告だ！珍しい！そこで私はこの本を買いました。先月NY州にいたときに読み始めて最近読み終わりました。
So here is my review:
そこでその本の感想です：
First and foremost I think that the amazon page should have had the Authors note in the description because it pretty much sums up what this book is. The author states:
まず アマゾンのページに著者のノートを載せるべきだと思います。著者はこう書き始めます：
"Dear Reader: This book is neither a guidebook or a how-to-bicycle japan book. Most definitely it is not a treatise on culture, customs, geography, history, government or people of Japan. Pure and simple it is a very personal narrative of my bicycle ride down the length of Japan's four main islands. Please accept it as such"
”読者の皆さんこの本はガイドブックまたは日本自転車観光案内の本ではありません。また日本の文化、仕来り、地理、歴史、国または日本県民の本ではありません。簡単に言えば自分の日本横断自転車旅の経験談です。そう認識してください。”
so there you have it. This is exactly what this book was. It felt more like a blog journal than an actual book. I guess I'm biased. When I see this in book form I expect there to be more polish but this was average joe blogger writing. Very report like : I went here, I did this, I met this person, I rode my bike, something broke, I slept, The random history lesson on the area and repeat. All through out the book I wasn't sure who the author wrote this book for. He assumes the reader knows nothing of japan for about 10 pages going into great details about some things like yukatas but then he glosses over other things. There are parts where the authors translation of Japanese is flat out wrong. There is a part where he describes a flag out side of a car dealership and he reads it "kaitorimasu" which means we "will buy back@ high price/trade in" he confuses it to be "we will charge you high prices"..
といってます。著者の言うとおりこの本まさにそのとおりです。個人的にはこの本は本よりブログに近い存在だったようなきがします。本の場合ですとどうしてももちょっと磨きが利いたものを期待してたんですけどほんとにブログがそのまま本にされた感じです。本当にレポートみたいで：ここに行き、あれやって、これやって、この人に合って、自転車壊れて、助けられて、寝て自転車乗って、歴史レッスン入れてそのまんままた繰り返しのようです。また著者が誰のためにこの本を書いたのかはっきりしない。著者は時々読者が日本の事何も知らないと判断してすごく細かく説明すれば（浴衣の説明みたいに）ほかの者はまるきり説明なし。 後時々著者の日本語が間違えてるときとかあります。たとえば本の中で”高額で買い取ります”と書いてある旗を車屋で見かけた作者はなんで”車屋は高額な売ります”とわざわざ旗に書くのだろう と悩みます。本当はまるきり逆なんですけど。。。
Also its funny the author spends about 70% of the book writing about Hokkaido 20% about Honshu 5% about Shikoku and 5% about Kyushu. Its like he was excited in the beginning of the trip kept meticulous notes and then by the end he hardly did any note taking so he didn't have any material he could remember. If you look at his route Hokkaido should be like 30% Honshuu 50% Shikoku 10% and Kyushu 10%.
後面白いのは作者は本のページ数を北海道に７０％、本州に２０％、四国に５％、九州に５％ かけます。でも地図を見ると北海道に３０％、本州に５０％、四国に１０％、九州に１０％ 時間かけて旅してるのになんでこの割合に？まるで旅の最初のほうは豆にノートを執ってたけどたびの最後のほうで何も書かなかったからそれが反映されてるみたい。
Personally I felt he could have done a little more research and painted more of a vibrant picture of the places he visited.What is the area known for, which famous warlord was in the area? What is the local food specialty? What are some things that he wanted to see but didn't get a chance? Also a map of where he was during each chapter would have helped a lot. There is a map in the beginning of the book but it can get quite confusing to figure out where he is just based on the reading in the chapters.
個人的にはもちょっと地方の事を調べて書いて貰ったほうがよかったとおもいました。たとえばこの地域はなにで有名でおいしいグルメは？とかここの大名はだれだったかとか？そう言った情報が入ってたら面白いと思います。あとチャプタごとに地図があればいいなあ。時々文章だけじゃどこら変異いたかわからないときとかありました。
Overall would I recommend this book? No. It offers no real substance to anyone who may be thinking of doing this trip. Like the author states in his notes this is just his experience.. nothing more.. I just wished there were more resources out there on this subject mater.
こういった旅を考えてる人にはほとんど役に立たないのでこの本はおすすめできませんね。作者の言う通りこれはあくまでも個人体験談なので。。もうちょっと日本の自転車旅の情報や本さえ出まわってたたらな。
にほんブログ村
and Sled Driver: Flying the World's Fastest Aeroplane
Skunkworks details how she was built along with U2, F-117A and Sled Driver is more from the pilots point a view.(check out this awsome Gizmodo Article on Sled driver!)
