Welcome to the Winter 2023 edition of our Habri website.
Hans Brinckmann's book The Call of Japan in Hiromi Mizoguchi's Japanese translation entitled Watashi to Nihon no Nanaju-nen has won First Prize in the 26th Japan Self-Publishing Culture Awards in the category "Best Essay Writing".
The picture above is the certificate of commendation. It says that Watashi to Nihon no Nanaju-nen: Oranda jin ginkouka no kaisouki written by Hans Brinckmann has won First Prize in the 26th Japan Self-Publishing Culture Awards in the category "Best Essay Writing" dated 11 November 2023 when the award ceremony was held at the Arcadia Ichigaya, Tokyo. Brinckmann and his translator Hiromi Mizoguchi attended the ceremony.
Here is the comment by the judges.
'This book, with over 500 pages, is an extensive archive of ordinary people in Japan during the post war period, full of detailed accounts, analysis, questions and marvels of everyday life from the author's own point of view. There are numerous numbers of books on Japan or Japanese culture written by foreign writers, but what stands out in this book is the author's viewpoint, that must have been cultivated by living here as a community member of ordinary Japanese people. It is a peerless book and the book deserves the first prize.'
To celebrate this prestigious occasion, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Japan invited Hans Brinckmann to hold a lecture at the residence of the Netherlands Ambassador in Minato-ku, Tokyo, on 17 November. It was just a sheer coincidence that Brinckmann came to Japan for the very first time on this day, 73 years ago!
For further report full of photos of the award ceremony and the lecture at the embassy, including the short video of Brinckmann's acceptance speech in Japanese at the award ceremony, click here.
Below is the promotional poster of the book which has got First Prize in the 26th Japan Self-Publishing Culture Awards in the category "Best Essay Writing"
The Call of Japan - A Continuing Story 1950 to the Present Day is available online.
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.jp
Amazon.co.uk
The Japanese translation entitled わたしと日本の七十年 ― オランダ人銀行家の回想記 is also available on Amazon.co.jp