In the Eyes of the Son (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780991562206)

Hans Brinckmann, born in The Hague, suppressed his dream to embark on a career in writing and joined the Far Eastern staff training program of Amsterdam's Nationale Handelsbank fresh out of high school. He was assigned to the bank's Singapore branch, and then to the Kobe branch in Japan, eventually rising to Tokyo Branch Manager at age 29. Always the "reluctant banker," he nevertheless continued to pursue his career, which eventually took him to New York, where he served as president of the Institute of Foreign Bankers, representing two hundred and forty banks, and as president of a Dutch-American foundation active in cultural exchange. In 1986, Queen Beatrix made him an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau for "cultural and professional achievement." He retired from banking in 1988. Since then he has lived in London, Amsterdam, Sydney and Japan, developing his career as a journalist, lecturer, poet and writer of fiction and non-fiction prose. He has published two collections of short stories, a highly-acclaimed memoir, a post-war history of Japan and a book of poetry. Three of his books have been published in Japanese, in translations by Hiromi Mizoguchi. In the Eyes of the Son is his first novel. In 2008, Brinckmann - together with his friend Ysbrand Rogge - held a month-long exhibition in Tokyo of photographs taken by them in Japan between 1951 and 1974, which drew 50,000 visitors. Brinckmann now lives in Fukuoka, Japan. He maintains two websites: www.habri.jp (bilingual English/Japanese) and www.habri.co.uk (English).