The cover of Brinckmann's newly published book in
Hiromi Mizoguchi's Japanese translation from Nishida Shoten

Welcome to the Spring 2025 edition of our Habri website.

Brinckmann's newly published book in Hiromi Mizoguchi's Japanese translation is called Monkey dance yokocho no shonen - Oranda jin ga kataru Senso, Yujo, Showa no hitobito. In English "The boy from the Monkey Dance - Tales of War, Friendship and People of the Showa era as told by a Dutchman."

There are 5 essays in this book:

1. The Monkey Dance - Chronicle of a 12-year old Dutch boy in the Winter of Starvation, 1944/1945 (Brinckmann's own wartime experiences in Holland occupied by Nazi Germany and how he survived the 'Hunger Winter in 1944 to 1945')
2. Iwaichi Waimatsu, fisherman's son and foreign bank's chief clerk (Brinckmann's friendship with 'Big W' with whom he worked at the Kobe branch of the Nationale Handelsbank)
3. Shirayuri - A Life Redeemed (Brinckmann's marriage was realised against all odds thanks to a friendship of two Japanese ladies, his future wife's mother and her friend from her childhood who became a popular geisha)
4. The American Senator who had just returned from space (Brinckmann's courtesy visit to US Senator Jake Garn in Washington D.C.)
5. The important things I discovered in Japan (a few things about Brinckmann's real-life philosophy)

As for the English original, The Monkey Dance - Chronicle of a 12-year old Dutch boy in the Winter of Starvation, 1944/1945 is available as a booklet.

Anyone wishing to buy a copy of this booklet, should contact us at info+habri.jp (change + into @ before sending your message).

Brinckmann's memoir The Call of Japan - A Continuing Story 1950 to the Present Day is available on Amazon.

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".

Watch Brinckmann's acceptance speech in Japanese with English subtitles

Amsterdam University Press

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.jp
Amazon.co.uk

Reviews of The Call of Japan

The Call of Japan has attracted some very positive reviews from professional writers:

For the Japan Society, by Roger Buckley - click here:

For The Japan Times newspaper, by Stephen Mansfield - click here:

For JapanToday, by Henry Hilton - click here:

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