Rather than a regular guidebook, the Passenger books give you a view of a place from a cultural perspective. This is a series of essays and articles about various aspects of contemporary Japanese life by all kinds of people, native Japanese people and outsiders. It covers a huge variety of topics from the people who disappear from their lives because of pressing debt to modern day ghosts to the Japanese obsession with blues music. I loved this book and have already bought two books by a couple of the contributors. I loved the idea, the format and the content. I'd happily read more of these about other countries. I'm glad I was offered this one as Japan is a country I have read about extensively and would love to go to one day. The book whetted that appetite more keenly.

I'm a big traveller and I love to learn as much as possible about a country before I visit. Even though in this case I had relatives there, the local people necessarily speak from a local viewpoint. The Passenger allows you an insight into the culture from people whose business it is to dig a little deeper under the political and historical surface. Writers of novels, historical theses, journalists. And it's not just about the politics and history, but about the very soul of the culture, it's music, customs and myths. I would recommend this series to any serious traveller who wants to prepare themselves to get the best out of a trip abroad, and return the richer for it.