This legendary Mahjong player (who apparently went undefeated for 20 years, playing for yakuza) knows what he's talking about. He is all instinct and no sucker, as Taleb might put it. Indeed, this is a must-read companion to (and a case study of) Taleb's Skin in the Game. Sakurai is a doer and a serious risk-taker who learned from doing and not from reading (like myself). One of the most memorable tips here is: "Do NOT memorize. Subtract, not add, knowledge," which by the way would get a vote of approval from no less a philosopher (of non-academic variety) than Schopenhauer himself as well as what Kahneman calls the curse of knowledge. It's true, the more you know, the more you get stuck and the harder it is to come up with something original.
Anyways, for someone who's believed in the power and glory of Effort, this book ("How to Live Without Effort") was quite refreshing. Highly recommended for anyone who can read Japanese and wants to make their life a bit easier to live.