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Mr Andoh's Pennine Diary: Memoirs of a Japanese Chicken Sexer in 1935 Hebden Bridge .
According to various reviews, this is in fact the diary of an adventurous young Japanese man who set out from his home in 1934 to see a bit of the world. After a six week voyage, he arrived in London, and then travelled by train to Hebden Bridge, where he was engaged by a large chicken hatchery to teach sexing techniques to the employees.
This was at a time when Japanese people rarely travelled outside their own country, and were rarely seen in Europe, especially in a small market town like Hebden Bridge. The book is based on the diary that he kept throughout his travels. It is a very revealing account of what life was like in a Yorkshire community in the 1930s, seen through the eyes of someone from an completely different culture.
I haven't read the book, but it does seem that the chicken sexing isn't the main theme. I assume that the publishers of this recent translation of the diary (published in 2011) chose the title in an attempt to draw attention to the book (in which case, they succeeded). But it seems a pity to make fun of what might in fact be a very interesting read.
Mike
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