Riku Yamakawa | Otis Cary's 'Jeep Okunohosomichi'
Riku Yamakawa reviews Otis Cary's book, 'Jeep Okunohosomichi,' analyzing the complexities of post-war Japanese travel and cross-cultural understanding.Summary
This article is a review by Riku Yamakawa of the book "Jeep Okunohosomichi" by Otis Cary (1921-2006). Cary, an American born and raised in Otaru, Hokkaido, returned to Japan after the war as a professor at Doshisha University. The book chronicles his approximately 3,000-kilometer road trip from Kyoto to Otaru with his family in a used military jeep in 1949, a journey highly unusual for the time. The trip was fraught with difficulties, including 37 flat tires and a theft that forced a temporary return to Kyoto. Cary navigated restricted areas by asserting his identity as a university faculty member rather than a military officer, building individual relationships along the way. One major goal was to reunite with former Japanese POWs he had encountered during the war. Yamakawa praises Cary's perspective rooted in individual experience but also notes potential contradictions, such as his views on Ainu people and the use of Basho's 'Okunohosomichi' in the title. Ultimately, the review suggests the book's significance lies not in the landscapes Cary saw, but in conveying who Otis Cary was while observing those landscapes, allowing readers to imagine the lives of those he encountered.
(Source：artscape)