The fact that the author visited five countries in order to place some touchstones related to the Shinto religion seemed exciting,but the story wasn't really very good after all.Traveler's Tales is a favorite series of mine.I recommend any of the country specific books,the cooking related books and the humorous books as being really great.Some I have read twice.The book Storm was also really good.Which chronicles a motorcycle trip around the Baltic.The setting was rather dreary,since it rained a lot,but it was overall a decent book.