Kotaro Sawaki is one of the most popular nonfiction writers in Japan. He made his name with "Shinya Tokkyu (Midnight Express)," a reportage of a yearlong overland trip through Asia and Europe he took when he was in his mid-20s. Those stories — whose title refers to a euphemism for "prison break" used by foreign inmates of an Istanbul prison — depict in astonishing detail Sawaki's friendly interactions with locals, his sometimes acrimonious bartering over bus fares, meals and accommodation — and his heart-rending and movingly humorous descriptions of the poor and downtrodden he encountered on his travels.