I’m thrilled that you got out of the book some of the things I like about Japan–there is much to like in this country. Sekiguchi was a great friend and a mentor. I haven’t had many friends like him and I doubt I will. It’s hard to find a good friend, one that will also tell you when you’re being a jerk and encourage you to do the right thing. Yes, I think we have a duty to stand up for the oppressed and the exploited as best we can. While this can only sound melodramatic, we live in a world gradually consumed by darkness and it’s the effort of people who keep lighting the candles, that keep everything good from fading into blackness.

Thanks for writing in and for picking up on an aspect of the book that I hope people don’t miss.

Just finished the book last night. Journalism was my original plan for college, but became discouraged, and switched. Had I been able to read your book then I think I would have stuck with it. Thank you for having the courage, and the conviction to be a real journalist; something that is sadly an increasingly rare thing these days. Fewer and fewer journos, American at least, have the balls to ask the tough question, let alone risk their life for a story they believe in.

I had a chance to visit Japan a few years back, and completely fell in love with it. More so with the people than anything else, and your book helped to reinforce what it was that I fell in love with, Particulary Sekiguchi. True friendship is something not everybody finds in one lifetime, but I dont have to tell you. Your book was, at the same time, a sobering look at a side of a society I had not experienced. Just another fascinating facet to the many layers of Japanese culture that is often hard for Westerners to wrap their head around.

I have lived abroad and have been witness to things like sexual exploitation, predation, and victimization, and I often times simply accepted it, rationalizing away as cultural difference. Your book really opened my eyes to the fact that we all have a duty to stand up for those that cannot stand on their own regardless of geography.

Again, thank you for the work you do, and I look forward to the next big scoop. Take care.

Sergio Martinez