[From the Forward, by Richard Kaufman] The genesis of this book is Winners, a collection of effects from eight recipients of the Masao Atsukawa Prize, published by Magic Land in Land in Japan. After the initial book was published, small booklets were later released containing the material of subsequent Atsukawa Prize winners. The awards were decided by a committee, and presented during an annual December party organized by Magic Land, run by Ton, Satoshi, and Mama Onosaka.

The best tricks from those publications were translated into English and rewritten by my friend, Steve Cohen. As a professional magician, his studies of Japanese and time spent in that country have given him a very special set of skills when it comes to rendering the text of Japanese magic tricks into English.

Rather than bringing just those items to you, it seemed a good idea to "rescue" quite a few other remarkable Japanese close-up effects that myself and Max Maven have described in print and are -- as are most tricks in magazines -- generally overlooked or forgotten. Having written and published many fine effects from Japanese magicians over the past 25 years has made reviewing all of them, and adding just the very best to this collection, a pleasant task.

Many people have asked me, what is the difference between the magic created by Japanese and Western magicians, or if indeed there is any difference at all. The answer to this question might seem complex, bit it is not.

The answer is Ton Onosaka...