Hearing several malicious comments about this book, I was eagerly predisposed toward it. Sub-titled "An Obsessed Man's Loving Tribute to Japanese Women," this is not the first politically incorrect work on Japan, but because it is such a recent title it is likely to draw more fire.
In Duff's view, Kyoto, his adopted home, is an enchanted forest, populous with desirable females hungering for the kind of flattery the author unstintingly provides. Undervalued by Japanese men, these are women who "aren't accustomed to the effusive accolades that over-enthusiastic, flannel-mouthed men like myself can't help but utter."
Infatuation by its very nature (intense, unyielding) is, like most inflammable things, short-lived. Duff at the ripe age of 54, daily consumed by polygamous fantasies, a marriage predictably on the rocks has, on his own admission, sustained his obsession for Japanese women by diversifying the objects of his interest.