Walking along the ancient Tokaido Road - A Pilgrim’s Path: Adventures and Transformations (Vol.1: Departure)

2026 International Book Awards Finalist — Nonfiction: Cross-Genre / Travel: Guides & Essays

Decoding Japanese Culture Through a 16-Year Introspective Journey along the Tokaido Road

Vol. 1: Departure — Kilometer Zero and the Machine Mind

"Most travelers visit Japan to see its beauty. A man from Tokyo walks to see the culture and its controls."

In 2006, following a life-altering accident and eight months of recovery, Ichiro Asanuma stood at Nihonbashi — the "Kilometer Zero" of Tokyo. Armed with a guidebook and the insurance payout from his accident, he embarked on a 494km pilgrimage along the ancient Tokaido Road with a machine-like focus on a single goal: reaching Kyoto.

This is not a typical travelogue designed to entertain you with fantastic romance. It presents unembellished, pragmatic themes that appear as both ordinary views and hidden secrets, reflecting the complex structural landscape of our world.

Volume 1 covers the first leg of this 16-year journey from Tokyo to Shizuoka, documenting the Tokaido through personal memoir, roadside photographs, and cultural observation. The book pairs Utagawa Hiroshige's famous 19th-century ukiyo-e woodblock prints of each post station with contemporary photographs of the exact same spots — inviting readers to see what has changed and what has survived across nearly two centuries.

• "I came away moved, a little exposed, and impatient for the next volume — not for plot, but for company with a voice this candid." — BookBelow
• "Fans of authors such as Pico Iyer will find much to love in Ichiro Asanuma's reflective approach to travel writing. The language is straightforward yet thoughtful, often turning ordinary details such as signage, buildings, or passing strangers into points of contemplation about communication and society." — Carol Thompson, Readers' Favorite

"Adventure and transformation await on the Old Tokaido."

Will you—who are allowed to hold your own stubborn, personal dreams—join the inquiry into what defines the Japanese people and their social systems, diving into a vast ocean of fear and similar selfish dreams?