News and Other Bits
Read about "Otaku Spaces," the latest from Chin Music Press, at Wired, CNN Geek Out! and Huffington Post. Also read more here >.
Ronald Holden, food blogger at Cornichon.org and writer for Crosscut.com cross-posted a glowing review of Shiro: "Shiro Kashiba's memoir should be read and taken to heart by every food lover for its celebration of simplicity and its reverence for nature's bounty."
Stimulate your mind with illuminating essays about Japan and beyond. Bruce Rutledge discusses Michael Rozek's mind-blowing new work and how it redefines nonfiction. See our blog >
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Read about "Otaku Spaces," the latest from Chin Music Press, at Wired, CNN Geek Out! and Huffington Post. Also read more here >.
Ronald Holden, food blogger at Cornichon.org and writer for Crosscut.com cross-posted a glowing review of Shiro: "Shiro Kashiba's memoir should be read and taken to heart by every food lover for its celebration of simplicity and its reverence for nature's bounty."
Stimulate your mind with illuminating essays about Japan and beyond. Bruce Rutledge discusses Michael Rozek's mind-blowing new work and how it redefines nonfiction. See our blog >
follow us on Twitter
Welcome to Chin Music PressThanks for stopping by. Our books focus mainly on Japan and New Orleans, two places rich in history and culture. And coincidentally, both have been devastated by recent natural disasters. While New Orleans is recovering, we have yet to know the scope of what a recovery will even mean for Japan.
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New Releases
Subduction
Todd Shimoda
art by L.J.C. Shimoda
Subduction is a timely, seductive mystery set on a tiny, earthquake-plagued island. The narrative is elevated by LJC Shimoda's exquisitely designed and evocative artwork. The book includes two-color brush art throughout, and a sixteen page full-color illustrated retelling of the myth of Kashima, the Japanese god who controls a giant, thrashing catfish that causes earthquakes.
"Subduction is a wonderful, multi-layered mystery filled with good humor, razor-sharp tension and startling aftershocks that recalls the best of Haruki Murakami." - Wendy Nelson Tokunaga, Love in Translation and Midori by Moonlight
"Husband and wife team Todd and Linda Shimoda's skills blend seamlessly together to make Subduction a hauntingly beautiful and highly unique novel. The author's prose and illustrator's talent give the book a tone and quality that is both rare and memorable." - ForeWord
More info > Buy a copy >
If you enjoyed Oh! A Mystery of Mono no Aware, you'll love this new title by the Shimodas > More info > Buy a copy >
Subduction
Todd Shimoda
art by L.J.C. Shimoda
Subduction is a timely, seductive mystery set on a tiny, earthquake-plagued island. The narrative is elevated by LJC Shimoda's exquisitely designed and evocative artwork. The book includes two-color brush art throughout, and a sixteen page full-color illustrated retelling of the myth of Kashima, the Japanese god who controls a giant, thrashing catfish that causes earthquakes.
"Subduction is a wonderful, multi-layered mystery filled with good humor, razor-sharp tension and startling aftershocks that recalls the best of Haruki Murakami." - Wendy Nelson Tokunaga, Love in Translation and Midori by Moonlight
"Husband and wife team Todd and Linda Shimoda's skills blend seamlessly together to make Subduction a hauntingly beautiful and highly unique novel. The author's prose and illustrator's talent give the book a tone and quality that is both rare and memorable." - ForeWord
More info > Buy a copy >
If you enjoyed Oh! A Mystery of Mono no Aware, you'll love this new title by the Shimodas > More info > Buy a copy >
Otaku Spaces
Patrick W. Galbraith
photos by Androniki Christodoulou
A fascinating new book featuring an insider's look at Japan's otaku ("nerd or über-fan") collector subculture, and a snapshot of how otaku continue to shape a global cultural consciousness. Patrick W. Galbraith, the author of the highly successful The Otaku Encyclopedia (Kodansha USA), takes us beyond the superficial stereotypes of "Weird Japan" and into the private spaces and places of self-proclaimed otaku.
In Otaku Spaces, Galbraith - a self-proclaimed otaku - has produced a groundbreaking work of reportage, utilizing interviews and dozens of photos to reveal a seldom seen side of these reclusive Japanese collectors. They talk frankly here about their collections of blow-up dolls, comic books, military paraphernalia, anime videos, and much more. Photographer Androniki Christodoulou brings the interviewees to life, intimately capturing their collections and living spaces in full-color images.
"In addition to the outstanding content, the book design is superb and the result is a delicious feast." - Terrence Cain, Prairie Lights Books, Iowa City
Read more > Buy a copy >
Patrick W. Galbraith
photos by Androniki Christodoulou
A fascinating new book featuring an insider's look at Japan's otaku ("nerd or über-fan") collector subculture, and a snapshot of how otaku continue to shape a global cultural consciousness. Patrick W. Galbraith, the author of the highly successful The Otaku Encyclopedia (Kodansha USA), takes us beyond the superficial stereotypes of "Weird Japan" and into the private spaces and places of self-proclaimed otaku.
In Otaku Spaces, Galbraith - a self-proclaimed otaku - has produced a groundbreaking work of reportage, utilizing interviews and dozens of photos to reveal a seldom seen side of these reclusive Japanese collectors. They talk frankly here about their collections of blow-up dolls, comic books, military paraphernalia, anime videos, and much more. Photographer Androniki Christodoulou brings the interviewees to life, intimately capturing their collections and living spaces in full-color images.
"In addition to the outstanding content, the book design is superb and the result is a delicious feast." - Terrence Cain, Prairie Lights Books, Iowa City
Read more > Buy a copy >
Shiro:
Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer
Shiro Kashiba
Shiro Kashiba helped spark a food revolution nearly 50 years ago by bringing sushi to the Pacific Northwest. Today he promotes another dietary change by advocating fresh, local fare over expensive imports. This cookbook/memoir tracks Kashiba's rise from Ginza apprentice to the godfather of Seattle's sushi scene. Ann Norton takes mouthwatering photos of seasonal recipes.
From the Seattle Times: "Three days a week you'll find Seattle's pre-eminent sushi chef right where he wants to be: standing behind his sushi bar, celebrating the fact that at 70, he's doing what he dreamt of doing as a grade-school boy in Kyoto." Seattle Times article >
Read more > Buy a copy >
Wit, Wisdom and Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer
Shiro Kashiba
Shiro Kashiba helped spark a food revolution nearly 50 years ago by bringing sushi to the Pacific Northwest. Today he promotes another dietary change by advocating fresh, local fare over expensive imports. This cookbook/memoir tracks Kashiba's rise from Ginza apprentice to the godfather of Seattle's sushi scene. Ann Norton takes mouthwatering photos of seasonal recipes.
From the Seattle Times: "Three days a week you'll find Seattle's pre-eminent sushi chef right where he wants to be: standing behind his sushi bar, celebrating the fact that at 70, he's doing what he dreamt of doing as a grade-school boy in Kyoto." Seattle Times article >
Read more > Buy a copy >
Hurricane Story
Jennifer Shaw
This odyssey of exile, birth and return, told through the dreamlike and haunting photographs of toys and dolls, chronicles the Shaws' escape from New Orleans ahead of the broken levees, the birth of their first child on the day Katrina made landfall, and their eventual return to the city as a family.
"You're going to love Shaw's marvelous memoir."
- The Times-Picayune
"This is the kind of book that reminds you that books can be beautiful objects." - The Los Angeles Times
"Like a mournful fairytale, Jennifer Shaw's beautifully staged tableaux are alternately sweet and menacing, filled with emotion but never spilling over into sentimentality. The poetic marriage of words and photos makes Hurricane Story a children's book for grown-ups."
- Josh Neufeld, creator of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge
More info > Buy a copy >
Jennifer Shaw
This odyssey of exile, birth and return, told through the dreamlike and haunting photographs of toys and dolls, chronicles the Shaws' escape from New Orleans ahead of the broken levees, the birth of their first child on the day Katrina made landfall, and their eventual return to the city as a family.
"You're going to love Shaw's marvelous memoir."
- The Times-Picayune
"This is the kind of book that reminds you that books can be beautiful objects." - The Los Angeles Times
"Like a mournful fairytale, Jennifer Shaw's beautifully staged tableaux are alternately sweet and menacing, filled with emotion but never spilling over into sentimentality. The poetic marriage of words and photos makes Hurricane Story a children's book for grown-ups."
- Josh Neufeld, creator of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge
More info > Buy a copy >
Jackson Squared (October Release)
Tom Varisco
Does anyone else smell beignets?
Jackson Squared is an irreverent celebration of the exponential quirks at the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter. Tom Varisco captures the many moods, events, faces, textures, smells and sounds of one of America's most famous destinations, documenting the unpredictable, beloved Jackson Square(d) with funny, surprising and sometimes shocking images and essays.
Even the statue of Old Hickory weighs in with some colorful art criticism and an ode to the Who Dat nation.
Tom Varisco
Does anyone else smell beignets?Jackson Squared is an irreverent celebration of the exponential quirks at the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter. Tom Varisco captures the many moods, events, faces, textures, smells and sounds of one of America's most famous destinations, documenting the unpredictable, beloved Jackson Square(d) with funny, surprising and sometimes shocking images and essays.
Even the statue of Old Hickory weighs in with some colorful art criticism and an ode to the Who Dat nation.
BooksRX: A Dose of Vitamin READAnnouncing mail-order medicine for your mind!
Are you tired of Doomsday prophecies foretelling a slow demise of the written word? Do you feel anxiety when looking to bestseller lists for your next great read? Are you looking for some new literary blood to make your heart skip a beat?
Chin Music Press is here with the perfect cure for the bookish blues, offering eager readers and despairing booksellers alike the latest in mail-order medicine for your mind: BooksRX! We’re excited to prescribe publishers, writers and artists who we believe are necessary for any literary medicine cabinet. BooksRX ensures that you’re getting a regular dose of vitamin READ through a loosely themed, guest-curated quarterly collection of the best that North American independent publishers have to offer – with a few bookish treats thrown in for good measure. Available as a single dosage (one issue) or as a full regimen (annual subscription), each installment of BooksRX is a limited edition. Paul Constant at The Stranger calls it "a bargain for this kind of unique experience." BooksRX is available exclusively through the Chin Music Press online store. Buy a copy >.
Beginning February 21st, Chin Music Press will offer our latest installment in this series, BooksRX #3: Mardi Gras. Curated by New Orleans-based photographer and author Jennifer Shaw, this collection captures the colors, flavors, wit and wisdom of the Big Easy just in time for the big celebration.