The book “Far Eastern Neighbors” is the author’s story about how he got into the profession, how he became an orientalist, how from a boy who survived the siege of Leningrad he turned into a famous international journalist. He tells readers about how our Far Eastern neighbors - China and Japan managed to make a leap to leading positions in the world, while maintaining their national identity. The task of a journalist is to convey to his readers information that will make people sharper and wiser, more enlightened and kinder, and most importantly, more tolerant of other nations .