Thomas Ran Garver

Tokyo-based lawyer and author Thomas Ran Garver was born and raised in Northern California. A long-time student of the Japanese language, Garver first traveled to Japan on a year-long study-abroad program in college. He returned to the country as a graduate student a few years later and then worked for several years as a translator at a Tokyo-based investment bank before attending law school in the US.

Garver has had a lifelong interest in the martial arts and began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) in Los Angeles in 1995. He holds black belts in both judo and BJJ.

Ways to Die in Tokyo is his first novel and the first book in a projected trilogy featuring the expat MMA fighter Hank Fisher.

Garver is married with two children. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading, writing, training BJJ, and exploring Tokyo’s amazing food scene.