John Ross, a New Zealand writer based in Taiwan, has spent three decades in Asia, starting as a freelance photojournalist then becoming an English teacher and author. His works include Formosan Odyssey: Taiwan, Past and Present, You Don’t Know China: Twenty-Two Enduring Myths Debunked, and Taiwan in 100 Books. He co-founded a publishing house focused on East Asia called Camphor Press and co-hosts Formosa Files, a weekly podcast on the history of Taiwan.
Podcast host Amy Chavez introduces John Ross who informs her that where he lives in Taiwan is known as the birthplace of the inventor of instant noodles: Momofuku Ando. Ross explains why he moved to Taiwan in 1994 and how his plans for writing a book about the Mongolian manbeast was waylaid as he instead embarked on an epic journey in 1999 which became Formosan Odyssey: Taiwan, Past and Present. This first book is about travel, history and small town-life in Taiwan.
Amy and John talk about Japan’s occupation of Taiwan and the legacies the Japanese left behind such as education, infrastructure, railroads, etc. Ross talks about Taiwan’s long history of attempted colonialism from the Dutch, French, and Ming Loyalists.
Next, Ross talks about Taiwan in 100 Books, how he chose the volumes that tell the story of Taiwan through their interesting back-stories, controversial texts, and some of the fabulist authors who brought the first information about Taiwan to readers around the world.
In You Don’t Know China: Twenty-Two Enduring Myths Debunked Ross explicates common misunderstood facts about various topics, including the Great Wall, Chinese medicine, fortune cookies, eating dogs, and Lord Macartney’s mission to China in 1793.
Lastly, Amy and John talk about other authors, their books and what led John Ross, Michael Cannings and Mark Swofford to form Camphor Press in February 2014. Ross, in charge of acquisitions, talks about filling the void between academic and big box presses. He gives kudos to other small presses such as Earnshaw Books, Stone Bridge Press, and Blacksmith Books who are all invested in bringing quality books to readers.
Amy introduces some Camphor Press books based on her own library. John adds some more titles to her list, including two by Pearl S. Buck, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature: The Exile: Portrait of an American Mother, and Fighting Angel: Portrait of a Soul.
John talks about the lost art of the travelogue and how the 1990’s era and the internet destroyed what should have been an enduring genre.
They discuss great travel writers such as Heinrich Harrer, Bill Bryson, and Ernest Hemingway.
John and Amy talk about how the travel genre is changing and where it is headed. Amy also mentions Alex Kerr’s upcoming book Hidden Japan: An Astonishing World of Thatched Villages, Ancient Shrines and Primeval Forests (Sept. 2023, but you can pre-order here) and how the author advises people to not go to these places, but rather be happy reading about them instead.
John Ross’s favorite travelogues are:
Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer
Land of Jade: A journey through India Through Northern Burma to China (1996), by Bertil Lintner
In the Footsteps of Genghis Khan, by John DeFrancis
Ross’s three favorite books on Japan are:
On the Narrow Road to the Deep North: Journey into a Lost Japan by Leslie Downer
In Search of Japan’s Hidden Christians, by John Dougill
Charinko by Tom Gibb (an upcoming Camphor Press title)
Be sure to check out Ross’s books at the Camphor Press website or via Amazon. You can also visit him on social media at the following links:
Camphor Press (Sign up for the Camphor Press Newsletter by scrolling to the bottom of that page)
The Books on Asia Podcast is sponsored by Stone Bridge Press, publisher of fine books on Asia for over 30 years. Subscribe to the Books on Asia Podcast.