Lovers of Haiku, Zen and Japan will find this novel truly inspiring! This is the story of Reginald Horace Blyth–poet, scholar, musician, linguist and avid student of Zen–who ultimately became the teacher to an emperor. His pivotal works were published in Japan even while he was imprisoned as an enemy alien. He ultimately became the key link and mediator between the Imperial Household and the occupying American forces. His fingerprints are everywhere today in the study of Zen and Haiku in the West, where his works have influenced some of the most important writers of the 20th century–including Huxley, Oshi, Aiken, Watts, Salinger, Kerouac, Ginsberg and many others. He was, in many ways, a man who changed the world and opened our eyes to the wonders of the East.

Written in the form of an autobiography and filled with spirituality and poetry, this book recounts a life of hard work, of discovery, of great joy and adversity, and of learning to be at peace with one’s self and one’s choices. It celebrates a man who built bridges between East and West for the greater part of his lifetime. Through it, we understand a man who always moved forward with a sense of purpose, warmth and humor, leaving a mark that was very big indeed.