Description
Book SynopsisA brilliant and captivating insight into the bizarre nature of contemporary Japan.
Trade ReviewA frantic, very funny, urban quest * Mail on Sunday *
Wonderfully oddball ... Here is a cult book all right, which could do for Japan and the martial arts what Hornby did for Highbury and the football terraces * Guardian *
His fine eye for eccentricities makes this an entertaining travelogue * Observer *
A rattling good yarn and very funny into the bargain * Independent on Sunday *
His explanation of how to come to terms with intense pain should be read to every footballer who has ever writhed about in agony after a kick on the shin... It is a clever, enthralling book * Daily Mail *
Brilliant ... everyone should read it -- Tony Parsons * Late Review *
This is a splendidly written adventure, something sane at last on the craziness of martial arts * Independent on Sunday *
Poetry in motion -- Sue Townsend * Sunday Times *
Communicates the existential purity of his elective regime with irrepressible passion ... it also has the unmistakable stamp of authentic experience * Daily Telegraph *
A book of unexpected brilliance. It is subtle, funny, stimulating and original - a rites-of-passage story, an explanation of an alien culture, and an inspiring work of philosophy -- Patrick French
Twigger vividly captures the wince-inducing physical and emotional trials endured by those who would wear the black belt. But he also offers a rare insight in aikido's peculiarly Darwinian group dynamic and how it fits into modern Japanese society. After this marvellously insightful account I will snigger no more at Steven Segal's po-faced chop-sockey * Literary Review *
The most intriguing sports book ever to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award * Daily Mail *
A frantic, very funny, urban quest. -- Simon Garfield * Mail on Sunday *
A book of unexpected brilliance. It is subtle, funny, stimulating and original - a rites-of-passage story, an explanation of an alien culture, and an inspiring work of philosophy -- Patrick French
His fine eye for eccentricities makes this an entertaining travelogue * The Observer *
A rattling good yarn and very funny into the bargain -- Tim Hulse * Independent on Sunday *
This is a splendidly written adventure, something sane at last on the craziness of martial arts * Independent on Sunday *
His explanation of how to come to terms with intense pain should be read to every footballer who has ever writhed about in agony after a kick on the shin... It is a clever, enthralling book -- Ian Wooldridge * Daily Mail *
Brilliant ... everyone should read it -- Tony Parsons * Late Review *
Wonderfully oddball ... Here is a cult book all right, which could do for Japan and the martial arts what Hornby did for Highbury and the football terraces -- Frank Keating * Guardian *
Poetry in motion -- Sue Townsend * Sunday Times *
Communicates the existential purity of his elective regime with irrepressible passion ... it also has the unmistakable stamp of authentic experience * Daily Telegraph *
Twigger vividly captures the wince-inducing physical and emotional trails endured by those who would wear the black belt. But he also offers a rare insight in aikido's peculiarly Darwinian group dynamic and how it fits into modern Japanese society. After this marvellously insightful account I will snigger no more at Steven Segal's po-faced chop-sockey -- Ben Farrington * Literary Review *
The most intriguing sports book ever to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award * Daily Mail *
