The Roads to Sata, written in 1985 by Alan Booth

Alan Booth

Alan Booth was a well-known English travel writer, who wrote two insightful books on his journeys by foot through the Japanese countryside. The better-known of the two, The Roads to Sata is about his travels from the northernmost cape in Hokkaidō to the southern tip of Kyūshū in Cape Sata...

 (1946-1993), tells the story of his journey, on foot, from Cape Soya

Cape Soya

is the northernmost point of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. It is situated in Wakkanai, Sōya Subprefecture. The is at the cape, although the true northernmost point under Japanese control is a small deserted island called Bentenjima, 1 km northwest...

 in Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

, the northernmost point of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, to Sata

Sata, Kagoshima

was a town located in Kimotsuki District, Kagoshima, Japan.On March 31, 2005 Sata was merged with the town of Nejime, also from Kimotsuki District, to form the new town of Minamiōsumi....

, the southernmost point of Japan. Booth's journey lasted 128 days and covered 2,000 miles. The book was originally published by John Weatherhill Inc in 1985, but was republished by Kodansha Globe in 1997 in paperback.