I found Yukichi Arai eating fruit sherbet in the lobby of the Tokyo Station Hotel. It was hot, I agreed, whereupon he ordered another. After four days sitting in a booth at the Tokyo Book Fair at Tokyo Big Site, promoting his book (titled in "katakana" as "English Patience"), he felt the world deserving of treats. "I was most surprised to find our booth at the heart of the fair, surrounded by the biggest names in Japan."

Published in "Nihongo," "English Patience" is a very curious book. The largest part concerns the life and times of an Englishman who -- like Arai -- lives in Taiwan. "I call him Charles Anderson, but this isn't his real name." Anderson (as enigmatic and contradictory as the author himself) appears to be a one-off kind of character: He fought against Germany in World War II and the Japanese in Burma, supported partisans in Tito's Yugoslavia and helped hunt down -- and shoot -- pro-Red China communist guerrillas in Malaysia.

Whether this makes him a spy, a mercenary, a good guy or a bad guy is questionable. We were, I felt, entering a gray zone that made me feel both uncomfortable and yet intrigued. This is what happens after 14 years in Japan: black and white become diffused. The duality of the culture widens horizons but also reduces clear vision. Or is the other way around?