✳︎ Publisher: Shinchosha; New Edition ✳︎ Publication Date: March 29, 1995, 6th Printing ✳︎ Pages: 281p Feeling stifled and suffocated by the everyday, wanting to quietly evaporate from this mundane reality, with an irresistible longing for wandering in my heart, I visit secluded hot spring inns, listen to the wind whispering on deserted roads at dusk. I feel a sense of nostalgia for laundry hanging by windows and rundown striptease parlors, and empathize with the downcast women and lonely men. This is the definitive travel essay collection by Tsuge, traveling while observing, pausing, and feeling the Showa era from the 1960s to the 1970s. Published after he effectively stopped drawing manga after "Farewell" (1987), this travelogue-style essay combines five previously published travelogues with eight newly written pieces. The content begins with the author's trip to Kyushu in 1968, when he was 30 years old, and includes descriptions of a dilapidated inn at Yoro Kosen, with creaking stairs and tilted tatami mats; a small trip to Ohara, Outer Boso, under the pretense of releasing a single surviving hermit crab into the sea with his parents; the fantastical story of Inume-juku on the old Koshu Highway, which appeared like a phantom in the twilight and vanished like a dream; and a visit to the village of Akiyama (Yamanashi Prefecture) in 1989, with an unyielding desire for seclusion. These travelogues casually visit places that ordinary travelers might overlook: mountain villages, post towns, remote fishing villages, hot spring resorts, and mineral springs. Everywhere, Tsuge's unique nostalgia and longing are imprinted, underpinned by poignant emotions that touch the heart. Along with "Tsuge Yoshiharu and Me," this book is a valuable resource for understanding Tsuge. ◉ Yoshiharu Tsuge (real name: Yoshiharu Tsuge) = Born in Tokyo. He had a huge influence on young people who saw manga as a form of self-expression, with his literary style that reveals absurdity in small episodes. His representative work is "Nejishiki." Member of the Japan Art Academy. ◉ ⤵︎ Search Terms: Nodajiri-juku Inume-juku Yoro Keikoku Kobundo Ruins Meiji Museum Abandoned houses in Yoro Keikoku Ohara Coast Evaporation Travel Diary Hachiman Cape Okutama Poverty Trip Shimobe, Yugawara, Hakone Kamakura Stroll Izu Peninsula Tour Cat Town Travelogue Nikawa Exploration Boro-yado Kō (Study of Dilapidated Inns) Garo Seirindo Kitatō Shobo Night Train Burai Heiya (Rogue Plains) Realism's Journey Desire in the Rain Spring-Loaded Evaporation Travel Diary Muno no Hito (The Man Without Talent) Tsuge Tadao Tsuge Yoshiharu Study Group Night Train Shinzo Takano Katsukazu Nagai Shigeru Mizuki Tsuge Yoshiharu Complete Works Tsuge Yoshiharu Collection