The stories and anime take place in a fictional world vaguely reminiscent of Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. The continent is divided between many small states that have virtually no contact with each other and have different levels of development of science and technology: primitive phonographs and typewriters coexist with gravitational planes and robots. A young traveler named Kino travels through these countries on a talking motorcycle, Hermes, learning the history and traditions of each city, never stopping anywhere for more than three days. In addition to typical fairy-tale elements (talking dogs and motorcycles), “Kino’s Journey” describes from a critical point of view many aspects of the political and economic structure of modern Japan and other countries.