"Now is the time to visit all the celebrated places in the country and fill our heads with what we have seen, so that when we become old and bald we shall have something to talk about over our teacups."

This is from the opening paragraph of Book One of:
"Hizakurige" or "Shank's Mare"
By Jippensha Ikku (1765 - 1831)
Translated by Thomas Satchell
Published by Charles E. Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont, 1960

The first book of "Hizakurige" was published when Jippensha Ikku was 37 years old. It was so popular that "Jippensha wrote numerous sequels that appeared year by year until 1822," when he was 57 years old (just like Charles Dickens and at about the same time). The protagonists, Yajirobei and Kitahachi, wander through the floating world of the highways - the inns, teahouses, gay quarters and roadside shops. They joke and swap stories with itinerant monks, actors, musicians and porters. They take advantage of fellow travelers and are tricked by fellow rogues along the way. This irrepressible pair of clowns, Yaji and Kita, have been loved by generations of Japanese.