I don't know what to say about this book. I was hoping it was more a present cultural look rather than a high fluent justification for a trip to Japan. The book initially began as a journey with his son into a culture that he enjoyed but a certain part of the culture which was more modern whereas the writer was hoping for a more look at "Real" Japan which is somehow an amalgam of tourist expectations and traditional Japanese culture that is not representative of the everyday Japanese. I really wanted to see the everyday Japanese. Instead, I felt dragged to places I didn't want to go just as Charley, his son, felt. While I enjoyed the interactions between father and son, I was bored by most of the narrative. I did like the portion where they talked to someone who witnessed the bombings during World War II and his emotions and experience but beyond that, what I read have felt cheated and empty. The narrative also ended abruptly. While the beginning of the work emphasized their relationship, as the book progressed, it stopped being about a Father's Journey with his son. It also became less interesting too.