On the Highway of the Stories of the Gods

book of travels in Japan exploring history, mythology and the present day

On the Highway of the Stories of the Gods recounts a series of journeys Martin Edmond and Mayu Kanamori took in Japan in 2023. They go first to Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands in the archipelago, then to the smaller island of Sado, in the Sea of Japan, whose goldmines underwrote the wealth of the Tokugawa shogunate. After that they journey through Tohoku, in the north of Honshu, following in the footsteps of poets Basho and Sora along the narrow roads of the heartland. Finally Edmond opens the window on their own place of residence in Kurohime.

In each of these locations, landscape and the everyday blend into history, mythology, belief, and magic. We learn the stories of the gods of the Shinto pantheon and of their interplay with Christianity and Buddhism. We hear about the development of Japanese Noh theatre, about shrines and monasteries, mountains and rivers. We are told the correct social protocols of bathing in onsen, and experience the richness of Japan's wilderness. The love Edmond feels for his adopted country flows through his prose and he shows us a country that is gentle, communal, welcoming, and always surprising.