Part biography, part almost travel documentary (spanning several years), if you have watched any of Chris Broad's videos then you can instantly read everything in his voice (alternatively, he does also narrate the audio book version!) and imagine the expressions.
My only criticism, other than it being shorter than IÂ would have liked (not because it feels rushed or anything, just that once IÂ got to the end IÂ wanted to keep reading!) but that some photo pages with pictures (even stills from some of his videos, with captions as to which they were from) could have added even more life to bring the text off the page. It would have set the hard-cover apart more from the paper-back, other than just the added resilience and dust-jacket.
Overall, though, a great tale of how one unassuming man with questionable credentials as a teacher managed to ultimately not only make differences to the lives of those he taught directly, I'm sure, but also helped educate millions worldwide about the rich culture of Japan – and not just the shiny parts we normally see.