A fantastic tale of the real historical figure of Prince Takaoka, as he tries to reach Hindustan from his native Japan. The book is written as a series of short stories that provide glimpses to the main events along his journey. Each is a blend of real, fantastical, fanciful, and dream-like. The boundary between reality and dream is never clear, making the book all the more interesting, as the reader is kept on their toes. The closes analogue is perhaps Gulliver's Travels, but with more sexual themes and even more whimsy, and peppered by Socratic dialogues between the Prince and his travel companions.

Overall, I liked the stories - they all had something quite unusual and fantastic, making me sit up while reading it, encountering a new idea. The effect of these events on the Prince is also interesting, helping the reader learn about a fascinating personality, that is quite exploratory, open-minded, and courageous.

The main issue for me in this book was the translation. It felt wooden and mechanical. Almost soul-less. It really did a disservice to what otherwise can be a magical flight of fancy. It got better as the story unfolded, but I always struggled to see the story through the bad translation. The word-choice was often weird (taking me physically aback - as if the translator used a dictionary without fully understanding what was happening), the phrasing was off, and the descriptions were laconic. A better translation would have made this a real gem, that is far easier to read.

I would recommend to people interested in Japanese literature (the author's life-story deserves its own novelisation!), and those interested in magical realism set in the 9th century, in a vastly different context to that of the West.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I feel like "Takaoka's Travels" was a nice blend in history, culture and magical realism. As a child, I heard about Prince Takaoka, and how he was, allegedly, killed by a tiger in his travel to India. To read more about this figure in a "fantasy" setting, made it amazing to read.

I don't know if the translation made it more difficult to follow, but sometimes, I mixed up facts and the voices felt similar to eachother.

Still, I'd recommend it.

Prince Takaoka sets out in search of the Buddha, but perhaps he does not need to go that far. His travels and especially all his dreams are a fundamental part of the dreamlike atmosphere of the book, which, however, unfortunately bored me.

Il principe Takaoka parte alla ricerca del Buddha, ma forse non gli serve andare tanto lontano. I suoi viaggi e soprattutto tutti i suoi sogni sono parte fondamentale dell'atmosfera onirica del libro, che peró, purtroppo a me ha annoiato.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Stone Bridge Press for an advance copy of this fantasy novel with a lot of travel and many wonders, the first translation into English by a very renowned Japanese author.

As one writes the reality of one's surrounds tend to make there way onto the the page. Fiction, nonfiction, fantasy or history, the experiences of the author, the life and times, highs and lows begin to show. One can start with a firm idea, this book will go from A to B to C, and end this way. Once the implement hits the page, or the fingers type the words, all bets are off. When one knows an author this is apparent, but when is new to a writer, or even in translation, this can be missed. One might enjoy the story but not get the story, or even wonder why something that seemed so linear went so askew. And became something even more beautiful and full of meaning. Takaoka's Travels by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa and translated from Japanese by David Boyd seems a book of magical realism about travels around Asia, but by the end becomes something far more.

Prince Takaoka grew up in a life of privilege, with every desire given to him. Takaoka's days were spent in leisure, or with an older woman who he loved, who shared stories about the countries far from Japan. Until she went away, leaving him with a strange story. Takaoka's father backed the wrong person in a game of politics, and Takaoka to survive becomes a monk. After a few years Takaoka asks for permission to travel to China, which takes time, and from there permission to travel to India, which takes more time. The day they leave his party of three if joined by a runaway slave boy, who talks of a mean master, but has secrets of his own. Upon landing they are attacked by tall men, and this only the start of their odd adventures in lands not their own, with a strange feeling that Takaoka is missing something.

The story is really well written in a style that seems removed as if told by a court chronicler to a group of people. However underneath it all is strong love of life, and an emotional feelings keep coming to the surface while reading, that one does not expect. Even in translation this comes across, so I must praise the translation. Upon reading some of the endnotes certain points of the story make sense, I won't ruin it, but suddenly odd things and choices fit perfectly, and even if at all possible hit harder. There is a love of life here, that magic is all around us if we just look, and don't wait until it is too late.

This is not a long work, but I found myself slowly reading different passages, and upon finishing reading the last third once again. I really enjoyed this work. I'm not sure if it is for everybody, but this will be one of the books I will recommend quite often.

A very strange story full of magical realism, Takaoka's Travels felt somewhere between a historical retelling and a fantasy adventure. After learning that Tatsuhiko Shibusawa was dying when he wrote the book it was easier to empathize with Prince Takaoka's story and desperation to reach India. It was also interesting seeing Hiromi Kawakami's quote that she loved Takaoka's Travels and it inspired one of her characters since I love People From My Neighborhood and how it blends surrealism into everyday life.

In “Takaoka’s Travels” by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, readers are swept into a mesmerizing narrative that combines the allure of travel with profound introspection. The story follows the journey of Takaoka, a prince-turned-monk on a quest for both external adventure and inner enlightenment from Japan to Hindustan (India).
The author crafts a narrative that is as much about the landscapes Takaoka traverses as it is about the landscapes of his own mind. Takaoka encounters with a diverse array of eccentric characters and mystical occurrences. Each encounter and experience challenges his preconceptions, leading to profound insights and moments of clarity.

For lovers of fantasy, “Takaoka’s Travels” is an exquisite masterpiece presented in the form of a surreal literary journey, making it an essential read that captivates the imagination and delights the senses.

I like the thematic work this was trying to cover but the translation was not good. It was over written and felt very unnatural.

As much as I normally really, really, enjoy translated works this one feels extremely over-written and I don't know if that's due to the translator or just how the work is written in original text. Not to be too critical but it's just impossible to tell what the actual fault was.

Unfortunately the book moves very quickly between characters and inserts anecdotes in the middle of stories that are already happening. Making it very difficult to follow along with what the main part of the story is. I'm sure that for some people this won't be an issue but for me it was very difficult to keep up with as I tried to parse who was doing what and when.

I feel that maybe I would better be able to follow this as an audiobook if I wanted to try and listen to it to try and revisit reading it again. But as for right now it's not something my library will be picking up.

Takaoka’s Travels is unlike any other book I’ve read. In the afterward, it’s described as a “cabinet of curiosities,” which is a good way to put it. Each section of the book is its own story, sometimes somewhat separate from the others, other times referencing earlier sections. It’s unclear what parts are dreams and what parts are reality. It had some rather bizarre sexual scenes, but the afterward discusses the original author having been tried in Japan for obscenities in a different translated work, so perhaps this is intentional (like a stick it to the man type of thing). It was an odd but interesting read.