"In the ninth century, a Japanese prince-turned-monk sets off with companions on a journey to Hindustan (India), the center of Buddhism. . . . An arresting novel that readers will cherish."
-David Keymer, Library Journal Starred Review
"A rich novel unlike almost anything else available in English translation from Japanese."
-Alison Fincher, Asian Review of Books
"A lush and fabulous journey into the unknown with impossible creatures, fantastic dream worlds, and things that seem to echo events long past."
-Regina Schroder, Booklist
"A romp across Asia that's both bawdy and spiritual."
-Thu-Huong Ha, The Japan Times
"A fantastical allegorical novel that traverses a man's dreams in the name of Buddhist devotion."
-Aleena Ortiz, Foreword Reviews
"Boyd's skilled translation brings the story of dream, memory, and drifting between strange lands to contemporary readers in English."
-Richard Medhurst, Nippon.com
"Provocative, funny, absurd and, in its way, beautiful."
-Ian Mond, Locus Magazine
"With a deft translation by David Boyd, Takaoka's Travels is a fun adventure story by a 9th century Showa-era master filled with amazing and imaginative creatures from Japanese mythology."
-DC Palter, Japonica Publication
"An exotic supernatural journey in search of nirvana that comes alive under the hands of translator David Boyd."
-Walter Sims, The Straits Times
" A neatly imagined quest tale, focused on the journey rather than the idealized but out of reach (physical) destination, Takaoka's Travels is an appealing mix of the historical and the fantastical."
-M.A.Orthofer, The Complete Review
"A joy from start to finish as we bounce from adventure to adventure, the tales getting taller by the minute."
-Tony's Reading List
"A journey fraught with the pitfalls and discoveries of wondrous creatures worthy of a perfect fantasy tale."
-Salome Lelievre, Actusf
"A work of magic and science, of literature swallowed and rendered in the form of dreams and pearls, a magnificent journey to the west - from which one never returns."
-Jean-Paul Brighelli, Marianne
"Like a hallucinatory journey populated by mythical figures and confusing landscapes, with the certainty that one must follow one's deep desire. [...] A promising start to the journey to Shibusawa."
-Frederique Roussel, Liberation
"I love Takaoka's Travels so much that my novel The Third Love features a character inspired by Shibusawa's hero, Prince Takaoka. With the publication of this translation, readers around the world will be able to enjoy this marvelous book!"
-Hiromi Kawakami, author of Strange Weather in Tokyo and Dragon Palace
"Takaoka's Travels will somehow remind you, simultaneously and impossibly, of a hundred books you've loved and nothing you've ever read. The plot moves in eddies, playfully forgetting and then remembering itself. . . . It's rare to read a book and feel not only that you don't know where it's taking you but, over and over again, that you don't know where it took you, and I can't stop thinking about the experience."
-Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Ghost Variations
