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You know I'm a huge Kurosawa fan, so this is my kind of stuff. I had a slightly different "entry" to old Japan. A couple of movies but mostly Japanese writers. They're still all over my bookshelves. I even tried to learn the language. It must run in the family, my brother was hit by the same virus. He could actually speak Japanese. And my nephew went over there for a couple of weeks, all on his own, 20 years old with a backpack. He had a hell of a time!

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This makes me even more eager for the release of Bluegrass Samurai. I think I might dig out my copy of Yojimbi and give it a rewatch.

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Fascinating read!! It made me think of my late father because of two vastly different connections he had to this well-written post. My father was a WWII and Korean War fighter pilot. His WWII squadron was sent to fight the Japanese. He actually met a Japanese fighter pilot who was shy and humble. Two former enemies acting like gentlemen right after the war had ended. That man reminds me of your Samurais. And, my father met and drank with Ernest Hemingway in Cuba. An afternoon with that legendary man was like no other...

I have been fascinated with Japanese History since the 1960s. I was just a little girl then but I heard my father's firsthand tales of ancient and modern Japanese History through his experiences in Japan shortly after WWII, and what he learned from its remarkable citizens.

I'm really looking forward to the new information you'll be providing me after I begin reading your fascinating book!!!

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