Yankee Hobo in the Orient, by John Patric

The egomaniacal libertarian John Patric self-published (and signed) a large number of additional printings of this book, originally pub'd by Doubleday in 1945. An adventurer and recluse, Patric traveled on pennies throughout Japan, China, and Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1930s. This loquacious text reports statistics of the area and times, and tells anecdotal incidents during his travels, both mundane and disturbing. It is a unique slice of the times as seen from one unique fellow, who later became somewhat of a character-recluse in Washington State. More about Patric and what became of him can be found on a blog by Erich Schlaikjer.