BOOK LAUNCH: JAPAN ON FOOT BY MARY KING
Two Women Walk Japan
19 May, 25 May, 27 May 2012
DATES / VENUES
Saturday May 19, 2.30 – 4.30 (followed by early dinner/drinks nearby) at Venture Dream Office, 13F Office One Shijo-Karasuma, Kyoto (2 mins from Hankyu Karasuma Sta. and Subway Shijo Sta. 京都市下京区室町通綾小路上る鶏鉾町480番地 MAP
Friday May 25, 6.00 – 9.00 p.m. at the Wesley Centre, 6-10-7 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo (SWET mbers ¥1,000; non-mbers ¥1,500) ) MAP … See more
Sunday May 27, 12.30 p.m. Lunch and Meet the Writer, Mont St Michel, Mejiro, Tokyo (¥3,200 Bookings: geeptbee@xtra.co.nz / ph. Allan Murphy: 090-9153-5917)
Mary King, walker and writer, will be in Kyoto and Tokyo to talk about her walk and book, Japan on Foot. She will be available for interviews from May 18th – May 28th. Contact her to arrange an interview at mklond43@hotmail.com Photos can be provided either from the author or from Fine Line Press.
IN BRIEF: JAPAN ON FOOT
British journalist Mary King tells the story of how she and her Japanese partner Etsuko Shimabukuro walked 7,500 kilometres through Japan – from Hokkaido, way up north, to Yonagunijima, Okinawa, which is Japan’s westernmost island. Japan on Foot recounts the adventures during their odyssey and includes fascinating insights into Japanese life. The book reveals aspects of the country and culture rarely shown or discussed. Japan on Foot is great reading for the Japanophile and armchair adventurer.
Mary writes about strippers, a shamaness, a yakuza Christian, an enlightened being, hunters, farmers, pilgrims, Hidden Christians, as well as a scientist who plans to resurrect the woolly mammoth and a marine geologist who maintains that the ruins of a lost civilisation lie off the shores of an Okinawan island. The book also includes interviews with members of the Ainu and buraku communities who talk about the discrimination they face in Japan. While there are plenty of interesting people and stirring adventures, Japan on Foot is also an inner journey – Mary shares her deepest thoughts and feelings about the people she loves and the country she made home.