"When I walked into the office on Monday morning I knew my reputation was in shatters." Walking Japan's coastal route in search of beauty, William de Lange encounters a string of local characters. Recording their stories, he braids a travelogue deftly interwoven with his own experiences since he first set foot in Japan some thirty years ago. A sequel to A Fool's Journey, A Fool's Return is an exploration of one of Japan's perhaps less scenic but certainly most historic routes. Above all, it is a gaijin 's exploration of his relationship with a country that continues to defy definition.