Have you ever wondered what the real Japan is? After 20 years, fluent in Japanese and married into it, I’ve got a few ideas that may surprise you.

Travel with me as I get to know the real Japan, around the island of Shikoku while I walk the 1,200-year-old, 750-mile, 88 temple Buddhist pilgrimage.

I am joined by a star-studded cast complete with naked gangsters trying to shake me down, a wandering ascetic searching for enlightenment while hiding from the Freemasons, high school kids having sex in an internet cafe, pubic hair thieves, a Buddhist monk who hates America but loves beef jerky, and many more. Yes, there were some “normal” people, but not too many!