The Japan Times Reader Survey grand prize went to Jack Kelly, a full-time model and resident of Tokyo's Setagaya Ward.

The prize, an Onkyo BASE-V10X home theater system, was awarded by lottery and came as a "big surprise" to Dublin native Kelly, who says he's been a reader of The Japan Times "from way back."

"In and out of Japan since 1979," Kelly may be familiar to many in Japan through his extensive modeling work, predominantly advertisements.

Kelly filled out the print version of the reader survey while "on a shoot." Shoots, Kelly explains, are often long, drawn-out affairs with lots of intermittent downtime. "You need to blank," he says. "I had it with me and it was just the right thing, short, something you could leave and go back to."

Besides, Kelly says, "I thought, 'I better do this. Maybe one of these days I might want to be a writer.' "

It was time well spent. Kelly said he is sure to make good use of the home theater system. "I'm Irish. I love music. I love watching films."

Kelly had some worries about whether he would be able to hook it all up though. "The manual's in a language I'm not too good at. I'll get somebody to do it."