October 31
APENDANS: Kroniek van een 12-jarige Haagse jongen in de hongerwinter van 1944/1945
My memoir of the 1944/45 the winter of starvation, earlier published in English, has finally found a publisher in its original Dutch. It is an online version that can be found by clicking on this link: https://oorlogsverhalen.com/oorlogsverhalen/hans-brinckmann/
Of course, it can only be read by readers with a knowledge of Dutch. The story will also be published in the literary magazine Atlas, in two or three instalments, in Hiromi Mizoguchi's Japanese translation.
November 16
Book Review of Japanese translation of Hans Brinckmann's book, The Call of Japan
(The following is the English translation by Hiromi Mizoguchi of the original review in Japanese)
 |
Ten books which business leaders must read to see into the essence of things
Reviewed by Kazuyoshi Ishiguro for Zaikai magazine (2022 November 16 issue)
Mr. Ishiguro was born in 1944 in Aichi prefecture. Graduated from the department of engineering in 1967, and the department of law in 1970, of Nagoya University. He served as president/chairman/chief advisor of IT companies in Japan. He has studied Buddhism at Bukkyo University and currently he is working on his doctoral program. He published books on business and Sumo.
Zaikai is a biweekly business magazine. They have a wide range of readership from corporate managers to entrepreneurs with a circulation of 53,000.
"It is not at all easy to see into the essence of things. You have to keep your curiosity high and never stop questioning. I would like to introduce ten books that may be useful for you to spend the coming years of your life and enrich it.
Italian Journey: 1786-1788 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Kodoku to iu michizure (What keeps me busy and fulfilled everyday) by Kishi Keiko, famous Japanese actress
Book of the Dead: Tibetan religion by Nakazawa Shinichi, Japanese anthropologist
Watashi to Nihon no Nanajunen (Me and Japan 70 years) by Hans Brinckmann
Mikaku Hourai by Uoya Tunekichi, Zen monk and cooking expert
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Russians by Izutsu Toshihiko, Japanese linguist and philosopher
Laughter is the Best Medicine by Norman Cousins
The Fox by Frederick Forsyth
Kirawareta Kantoku by Suzuki Tadahira, Sportswriter
Watashi to Nihon no Nanajunen by Hans Brinckmann
Brinckmann came to Japan in 1950 at the age of 18. He was active on the frontlines of the Japanese economy and built a successful career as an international banker for 24 years in Japan while he played an important role for cultural exchange between the Netherlands and Japan through Nichi Ran Kyokai (JNS). He proclaims that 'I've always been attracted by Japan's generally caring, non-violent, balanced way of life.' I wonder: Do we still maintain such 'caring, non-violent, balanced way of life'?"
