The Press

Chin Music Press gets its inspiration from the varied meanings of the phrase "chin music." Mark Twain used it in 1872 when one of his colorful rubes described the eloquent way a preacher spoke in Roughing It. Flapper girls in the Roaring Twenties used it as a synonym for gossip. And it's still heard today from baseball announcers when a pitcher like Kerry Wood throws one of those high-and-tight fastballs that is meant to tell the batter: "Next time, it's your noggin."

Our goal is to resurrect some of the best practices of publishing in past centuries in books that tell decidedly modern stories. We want, on the one hand, to recreate that sense of awe book lovers get when they enter the rare books room at Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon, and, on the other, to feed that appetite among readers for fresh, unflinching and entertaining looks at our world. In short, we want it all.

The Studio

But we're also practical folk. The studio side of our business focuses on delivering jaw-dropping design and eye-popping prose to corporate clients who are looking for a little more edge in their literature, websites and presentations. We're well-connected in Japan and have a team of translators ready to localize products. We're the perfect creative team for a business that needs to get its message to people in North America and Japan.

Ordering Our Books

Retailers: Chin Music Press books are distributed by:
Consortium Books Sales and Distribution
1045 Westgate Drive, Suite 90
St. Paul, MN 55114
Toll Free: 800-283-3572
Phone: 651-221-9035
Fax: 651 221-0124

Individuals: Our books are available from our online store. They are also available at all major booksellers and other online retailers such as amazon.com and powells.com.

The People

Bruce Rutledge is a journalist, author and teacher who lived in Japan for 15 years before moving to Seattle in 2002 to set up Chin Music Press.

Craig Mod, art director, is a designer, photographer and occasional writer living in Japan. He graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003 with a BSE in digital media design. His work has been exhibited extensively in the US and Japan.

David Cady, director, is an editor and writer with more than a decade of experience working for news organizations in Japan. He studied Chinese at Western Washington University and the Beijing Foreign Studies University, took a wrong turn, and ended up in Tokyo, where he lives with his wife and two sons.

Yuko Enomoto, former journalist, serves as editor, translator and secretary for Chin Music Press. She loves jazz and long, relaxing dinners, which she no longer has time for as a frustrated mother of three small and increasingly obnoxious children.

Cletus is a warrior-robot who worked in Japan during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) as a servant and translator for teacher, publisher and English nobleman Sir Walrus of Routledge.