An afternoon spent with A.J. Quinnell, author of the book Man On Fire, has given a group of 20 Japanese friends an experience to remember their brief visit to Malta.

Man On Fire has been made a film, currently showing in local cinemas and which will be screened in Japan under the name The Bodyguard as of December 18.

The Malta Tourism Authority's representative in Japan, Michio Endo, who organised the tour to Malta by the Japanese visitors, told The Times the Japanese have been big fans of Mr Quinnell for years.

He was a hero to them and even before Mr Endo knew who Mr Quinnell was people used to ask him if they would see Mr Quinnell during their visit to Malta or whether he still lived in Gozo.

Some even returned complaining that after spending a number of days in succession waiting for Mr Quinnell in Gozo they did not get to meet him.

Mr Endo said that after receiving several enquiries about Mr Quinnell, he looked up the name on the internet and learned that he was an author. During a visit to Malta, Mr Endo asked about Mr Quinnell and was told he lived in Gozo.

Mr Endo traced Mr Quinnell at the Glenn Eagles Bar, in Mgarr, Gozo some eight years ago and the two have become friends. When he gets Japanese fans over to Malta he always tries to organise a meeting for them with Mr Quinnell and the author always tries to oblige.

Mr Endo said that when Mr Quinnell visited Japan three years ago he held a reception in his honour to which he also invited some 80 Japanese who had visited his travel agency to ask about the author.

Mr Endo returned to Malta last Friday with 20 Odawara High School classmates, all big fans of Mr Quinnell. He took the group to the Glenn Eagles and after they had a couple of drinks with Mr Quinnell, the group, which left Malta on Wednesday, enjoyed dinner at the Mgarr Hotel.

Mr Endo expressed his appreciation to Mr Quinnell's assistance in the promotion of Malta in Japan.