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April 21, 2025

Talking about thinking about writing about walking

Updates from Sapporo, including observations of red-crowned cranes in Hokkaido, an invitation to my May 4th open studio talk, a call for Hungarian readers to review my upcoming translation of ”The Wilds of Shikoku” and Alan Booth’s “Roads Out of Time”, and reflections on writing about my walk around Japan.

Peter here, the guy who’s no longer walking around Japan but sitting on a succession of very low Japanese chairs in Sapporo thinking about writing about walking around Japan.

I hope your spring is going as well as it can. The snow in Sapporo is largely gone, if you look closely enough there are tiny new leaves on the birches and the willows, and some of the cranes, I suppose, are back in Siberia.

Four red-crowned cranes with white bodies, black wingtips, and bright red patches on their heads stand in a snow-covered field in Tsurui, Hokkaido, Japan. The birds are spaced apart on the white snow, with bare winter trees and a forested area in the background under a pale gray winter sky. Some patches of brown vegetation peek through the snow, and a single tree with a few remaining leaves stands to the right.

They were still here — along with mountains of snow — when we arrived on Hokkaido in early March, and it was the first time I saw them in the winter. They’re giant, very loud cartoon birds, and their cartoon plumage makes a lot more sense in these wintry landscapes than when I first saw them on a late August day. What silly joy and privilege to share an island with them, if only temporarily.

Open studio on May 4th

Tenjinyama Art Studio, where I currently live and work, will be having an open studio day on May 4th, Sunday next week, and I will give a 30-minute talk on my 9,000-kilometer walk around Japan. I would love to see you here! If you’re in Japan, and like ≈100% percent of people in Japan have never been to Hokkaido, May is a splendid time to kick that habit. We’re also going to have an exhibit of my Hokkaido photos + coffee and cakes I guess.

A row of four empty chairs sits silhouetted against large windows that stretch across the wall at Tenjinyama Art Studio in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. The minimalist seating area features black-backed chairs with armrests arranged along a narrow counter that runs beneath the windows. Through the windows, bare winter trees and evergreens are visible against a gray sky, creating a stark contrast with the dark interior of the studio space. The polished floor reflects the natural light coming through the windows.

Drop me a line by replying to this email if you think you can make it. We have some very nice lounge chairs to observe the boreal forest from.

I’m also going to post the talk on YouTube a couple of days later and send the link in my next dispatch.

Open call for Hungarian readers

My joint Hungarian translation of my 2019 book The Wilds of Shikoku and Alan Booth’s Roads Out of Time, about two walks through the mountains of Shikoku on the same route 36 years apart, is almost finished, and I have wonderful news: Mirai Booth-Ong and Su-Chzeng Ong, Booth’s daughter and wife, have given their blessing for me to post it on my website. To the best of my knowledge, it’s going to be the first Hungarian translation of any of Alan Booth’s books.

I’ve set up a temporary mailing list where I’ll send one (1) email when the book goes live then delete the list. Sign up here. Please note that all of this will be in Hungarian.

I’m looking for people who would be willing to read the whole thing before it goes live and give their comments. If you can, 1, read Hungarian and, 2, feel like doing so for 2–3 hours, send me an email and I’ll send you a link and instructions. It’s a short book, ~160,000 characters or ~22,000 words long — about twice the length of a long-form magazine article.

Adventures in data reduction

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the notes in various forms that I took on my big walk around Japan, as readers of my new blog Data Reduction 9K know all too well. I was very happy to see many of you sign up, and I was even happier to read your many letters of encouragement.

It’s…not a straightforward process. I’m reminded of a line in the post-script of Peter Hessler’s Oracle Bones, a book about China at the turn of the century: “I’ve always liked the freedom of writing, as well as the fact that there’s no set route for the career. There isn’t a necessary degree or qualification, and each writer figures out his own path.” Unlike Hessler, I don’t have a career, but I’ve also always enjoyed the essential freedom of writing, which, like all things, has a flip side: when there are no routes or rules, you’re completely on your own.

On good days, of which there are a few, I feel that I’m going to be able to write a fun, original, grand adventure book, the kind that I would have loved to read as a kid (my gold standard for having fun). On bad days, of which there are no fewer, I feel like the whole thing is completely pointless and I’m wasting my time.

My next post there is long overdue, and I’ll set out to write it once I’ve sent this dispatch. Sign up here if you wish to join my meta-adventure in text files.

With warm wishes from Sapporo,

Peter


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