Through a study of Western authors and
their representations of themselves and their Japanese
experiences, I argue for a mutually complementary
relationship between the philosophies Existentialism and
Phenomenology, and travel, and attempt to codify features of
a hypothetical 'Existential traveller-hero'. I will study a
collection of Western writers who have travelled to and
written about Japan, and try to analyse how their 'travel
strategies' resemble an arguably Existential and/or
Phenomenological paradigm. I do this through looking at
philosophical and technical strategies within travel
writing, as demonstrated by the lives and writings of
authors such as Donald Richie - whose approach to cultural
understanding clearly privileges engagement with the locals
over construction of theoretical models - and French
existentialist philosopher and pioneer Jean-Paul Sartre. It
is specifically through Richie's writings that I attempt to
illustrate the qualities of an 'Existential traveller-hero',
as well as the 'perfect soul' described by the mystic
philosopher-monk from Saxony, Hugh of St Victor.