Folks in the Seattle area, come check out the Chin Music booth at this weekend's Aki Matsuri, a celebration of Japanese culture hosted by Bellevue Community College. The matsuri, or festival, features craftspeople, martial artists, Japanese food, a Japanese-style flea market, workshops on Japanese culture and, of course, the Pacific Northwest's finest purveyor of books on Japan, yours truly.

We're very excited to be included in this year's festival because the organizers, the folks at Eastside Nihon Matsuri, have made a point of keeping for-profit companies to a minimum to allow individual artists to shine. Either the good people at ENMA looked at our books and felt sorry for us or they felt that our books fit the mold of what they are trying to promote. Either way, we're proud and happy to be part of the festival.

The event is free as is the parking. Come by and say hi. Meet our new intern, Josh among others. Check out our latest titles. Perhaps even buy a limited edition print cloth of Scai the Bathhouse, a contemporary art gallery in Tokyo. No pressure. Just come by and let us know you're one of our readers. We'd love to meet you.

We share this week's column by Minoru Morita, author of Curing Japan's America Addiction, our latest release set to hit bookstores in the next few days. Morita unravels the motives behind Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's sudden resignation.

Our world can change as quickly as scattering cherry blossom petals
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's sudden resignation brings to mind Shinzo Abe's exit about one year earlier. It's obvious why the overwhelming opinion is that an irresponsible administration has been tossed aside.

On one hand, the public's low opinion of the administration, the get-tough tactics of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan and the difficult demands made by coalition partner New Komeito put the administration in a tough position. It's clear that these factors led to Fukuda's decision to step down.

But to paint this resignation with the same brush as Abe's seems rash. I believe Prime Minister Fukuda timed his resignation in hopes of a miracle.

Fortune favors the brave
The Liberal Democratic Party needs to take just three steps to maintain political power:

To celebrate the launch of our latest title, Curing Japan's America Addiction by longtime political pundit Minoru Morita, we're sharing an occasional column from Morita-san, translated here weekly by the galley slaves of Chin Music Press.

The strong survive wars; the weak make sacrifices.

Those who declare wars place themselves in a safe zone, and survive. The average soldier is sacrificed without mercy on the battlefield The average citizen shoulders the unhappiness.

War breeds dictatorship. The dictatorial government mobilizes the mass media to brainwash the citizenry, pushing the populace toward support of the war. The very spirit of many of the citizens is manipulated to the point where they willingly march to their deaths. Even though there is no such thing as an "honorable death" in war, there are more than a few young people who will join the military forces, swayed by the government's brainwashing campaign.

History is repeating itself. Sycophantic politicians, easily manipulated by US military might, are ready to send Self-Defense Force troops to Iraq and Iran. It is not just the members of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito who want to do this; some members of the Democratic Party of Japan want to as well. During World War II, we fought "for the Emperor." Today we fight "for President Bush and the American government." This must stop.

After World War II, Japan was put under American rule. The US has worked at making Japan a front line of defense and at mobilizing the Japanese people to fight for American interests. But Japan has been able to just barely protect its citizens from American advances thanks to Article 9 of the Constitution. Japan's Constitution was made one year after the end of World War II. Article 9 pledged that Japan would not wage war. Because of Article 9, Japan has lived in peace for 61 years.

The major English book distributor in Japan is no more. Yohan declared bankruptcy at the end of July with about 6.5 billion yen in debts. Here's how the distributor explained its demise in a letter to creditors (yep, we're one of those, unfortunately):

To provide a brief background of the circumstances leading to our filing, from around 2006, bookstore sales of books and magazines began to decline because of diminishing individual consumption resulting in increased rates of return. This created a situation whereby we needed to procure funds from financial institutions to cover our purchasing costs. In addition, we made aggressive investments in the acquisition and/or support of a local publisher, overseas subsidiaries in book publishing and book retailing, Aoyama Book Center store openings, overhauling of our logistics center, etc., which led to our carrying a large amount of interest-bearing debt for a company our size. As a result, our interest costs increased, further exacerbating our cash situation. We took steps to reconstruct our business by implementing such restructuring measures as the renewal of our management following the resignation of the former management, selling off stocks of our overseas subsidiaries, and the relocation of our logistics center and scaling down of our head office to reduce costs, but this did not lead to improvements in our cash situation as anticipated, due in part to sales falling below our initial projections. Regrettably, these circumstances ultimately led to our decision to file for bankruptcy as we no longer were able to make payments to our creditors according to our agreements.

I never was a big fan of Yohan — it seemed to care little for the smaller presses and was always full of excuses. So seeing it go doesn't bring tears to this guy's eyes. But this sort of thing does affect publishers, as we wait for months to find out if we're ever going to be paid, and even then, probably receive pennies on the dollar if anything at all. :Let's hope whatever replaces Yohan isn't as monolithic or stodgy and offers more options for small presses in Japan.

On the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, we bring you this column from Minoru Morita, author of our latest book, Curing Japan's America Addiction.

Minoru Morita Unravels Japan
August 2008: Thinking about Peace and Japan's Proper Path
We must not forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki

At 8:15 in the morning on August 6, an American B29 dropped an atomic bomb from its chute and annihilated Hiroshima. As many as 25,375 died from radiation exposure on that day, according to data in An Integrated Chronology of Modern Japan published by Iwanami Shoten. Add those who died later because of the atomic bomb, and a total of around 200,000 people lost their lives. The news of this new bomb dropping on Hiroshima didn't reach the papers until two or three days later. For those of us in the Kanto area, the news came to us by word of mouth before the newspapers made their reports.

And then the next bomb dropped on Nagasaki. On that day, 13,298 people died, according to Iwanami Shoten's Chronology. In total, about 100,000 people lost their lives because of this bomb. Combined with the fatalities from the Hiroshima bombing, 295,956 people lost their lives.

Because of the strict control exercised by the US Occupation Forces, most of the Japanese people didn't hear any information related to the bombings until after Japan became an independent nation on April 28, 1952. From that day, exhibitions about the effects of the bombings were held throughout Japan.

One of the many memorable moments of our launch party for Curing Japan's America Addiction so graciously hosted by Minoru Morita and his staff two weeks ago in Tokyo was the sumo-style singing of Kunio Sunou. Mr. Sunou belted out a tribute to Mr. Morita's new line of educational institutes, clapping two blocks together at the beginning and the end of the song, as they do to open and close sumo tournaments in Japan.

Craig began taping about 20-30 seconds into the song, when it was clear that Mr. Sunou had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Check out the video here.

And for those who read Japanese, you can find more on Mr. Morita's ambitious plan to build 10,000 schools around Japan to help young and old cope with coming changes and reconnect with the past. As Mr. Morita said when describing his grand ambitions, "As long as there's at least one person as foolish as me out there, it makes things more interesting."

Like a train that simply can't be stopped, the Hitotoki story mapping project continues to blow the doors off chapels and chemists, city after city. Tonight, this morning. afternoon, whatever time it may be, wherever you might be reading this, we launch our latest edition to the Hitotoki canon: HITOTOKI PARIS.

Curated by the lovely, amazing, talented and French speaking Lauren Elkin, this represents yet another Crafted With Care rollout of a Hitotoki city.

We've set a standard from the start of this project to publish only the best of the moments submitted to us. We set out to be selective with the express purpose of providing a more focused experience for the reader, to be the antithesis of web 2.0 content landslides. And to achieve this we've tried to surround ourselves with dedicated editors who understand this vision. So what we're trying to say is, if you have problems with the content of Hitotoki Paris, then blame Lauren. ;-)

As always, Hitotoki is very much a full force collaborative project between Paul Baron, Chris Palmieri and me. So if you have problems with the site, direct the complaints at us!

OK, so it was actually the second time for Craig and Mr. Morita to have met, but still, it's a great photo. Two people from two very different backgrounds and very different generations come together to make a kick-ass book. Of course, I'm talking about our latest title, Curing Japan's America Addiction, written by Morita-san and designed by Mod-san (and translated by Yuko and yours truly). The photo was taken at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Japan, where Mr. Morita spoke to about 50 reporters and members of the press yesterday. Thanks to Takehiko Kambayashi for the pic, and for some stellar reporting that appears in the book.

Today (Wednesday 7/23) in Japan at 3pm Minoru Morita will be talking to the foreign press and other members of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan about his explosive new book, Curing Japan's America Addiction. Here's the summary from the FCCJ's website:

Long considered one of Japan's leading political analysts, Minoru Morita's first book translated into English makes no bones about its premise -- that the Koizumi Cabinet, and its ties to the Bush Administration, have destroyed the nation's middle class. Morita says tensions between the countries are growing, and the book was translated into English so that Americans would better understand Japan's political situation.

The 75-year-old author says in the book's first sentence that Japan is on the verge of its greatest political crisis in history. With a general election coming within a year and support for the Fukuda Cabinet still low, make your reservations early as the veteran Nagatacho-watcher predicts how the saga will play out.

If you can't make it to the event in Tokyo, then order the $15 book directly from us and get it shipped free anywhere in the US and Canada or for just $5 anywhere in the world.

I'm getting my first glimpse of our new title, Curing Japan's America Addiction, today. I'm in Tokyo for the official launch of the book this Thursday at the Ru Paul Hotel (OK, it's actually Le Port, but in katakana it reads like Ru Paul). I'm — gulp — supposed to deliver a short speech in Japanese before Mr. Morita's keynote lecture, which is why I arrived a few days early to see if I can still speak Japanese (turns out I can, thank god).

We'll have promos up on the site and special offers to our faithful readers throughout August. If you want a fascinating read on why Koizumi's structural reforms are destroying Japan's middle class and a reminder of just how horrible a president George Bush was — I mean have you read this?! — then this is a book for you. I think we could all use a little detox after the last eight years (but wait, while we're all in detox, they'll bomb Iran...).

Here's Morita quoted on Bloomberg on Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's performance at the recent G-8 summit in Hokkaido:

"He tried to gain points domestically by addressing Japan-specific issues, misunderstanding what it means to chair a summit conference,'' Morita said. "The impression that he gave of Japan to the outside world is that they are egotistical and inward- looking.''

And here's Mr. Morita without the polite media filter on the same subject in a column translated by Chin Music Press:

The G-8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit was an enormous waste. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was powerless and showed no leadership. He was dragged about, used and trampled upon by US President George W. Bush.

President Bush forced America's egoism down everyone's throats. He carried through with his "if I'm OK, who cares about the rest?" philosophy. The US flexed its muscles. All the other political leaders were powerless before him. As summit chair, Fukuda was especially pitiful, trying to read Bush's every whim.

Look for more on the book soon. We'll be dealing them out of the back of a van in Kabukicho for a few days, but then we should have a proper link on the site for the rest of the world to buy it.

And so our little Hitotoki family grows once again!

After a long, top-secret incubation period, Hitotoki Sofia is now live. How we longed to scream to the world that this was in the works. Our mouths were sealed lest we break any number of iron-clad Bulgarian NDAs, all composed by a lawyer wearing nothing but tuxedo pants and living off carrots and dip for weeks on end. All this to ensure maximum excitement upon launch. None of us have ever been to Sofia, but based on the small number of Bulgarians we've met (lawyer included) and the stories they managed to collect for the launch of this city, I think it's safe to say Sofia is one of the undiscovered bastions of Eastern European wonder and gentility.

This edition was expertly curated and translated by Konstantin Vulkov and his team at Bulgarian National Darik Radio. We wish to thank him and his staff for all their hard work in bringing the world a little bit closer to Sofia.

Some select quotes from the launch entries:

001:

I like her because Ginka, Binka or Dochka, or whatever her name is, is the singular inhabitant of the stretch who could be possibly called “normal”. I like her and I hate her. For the same reason.

003:

Well, it was not a Cadillac, it was not even a Mercedes, it was not even a Ford, it was just a Wartburg. So from that moment there were two cars on our street. My father’s Wartburg, and the Cadillac of His Excellency. And the Saturday afternoons received a new meaning. My father and I started to wash the car together, with a hose and a soft brush, with soap-suds, the Wartburg started to shine fabulously. It was an enemy worthy of the huge Cadillac’s steel.

004:

I did not only hear the bells, I felt them with every inch of my body. There was something grand in that moment, at least this is how I felt it.

An editorial note:
For Hitotoki Sofia we've left all editorial nuance, spelling and grammar up to the Bulgarian team. This means that some of the phraseologies and word usages are somewhat ... unorthodox. We feel this is all part of the fun of bringing the voice and spirit of the city to a broader audience and hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did organizing it.

It's been a long while since we've had some fresh coffee prose brewing over at cannedcoffee.com, but thanks to Ted Taylor, this week it's all about love, dishonesty, that oppressive rainy season air and the inspirational lyrics of The Monkees. Check it out.

While newspapers gut their book coverage, NPR is expanding its coverage online. And it has good Jessa Crispin of bookslut fame as one of the reviewers. Smart move.

I don't think it's a coincidence that nonprofit news media like NPR see the potential for growing book coverage while most for-profit papers are gnashing their teeth and bemoaning falling advertising rates. It's simple — we need more nonprofit journalism and less focus on shareholders and profit margins. Some things — like investigative journalism, health care and education— just don't work very well under our capitalist system, me thinks.

The Kindle is about to have some competition. The Readius is the size of a cellphone but a 5-inch screen can be pulled from it to read books, magazines, newspapers, et cetera. Plus, and here's the real value added over the Kindle, it is both durable and flexible. From The New York Times:

Mr. O’Rourke of the Flexible Display Center likes the look of the new generation of supple screens, but he also likes their toughness. “Some of them we’ve beaten with hammers, and they still run,” he said. “No one could do that with a BlackBerry.”

And this is just the beginning, O'Rourke believes. "It’s an exciting example, but there are going to be a slew of other devices coming soon, too,” the paper quotes him as saying.

Read the whole story and see a picture of the Readius here.

Saw this on the Shelf Awareness newsletter and wanted to pass it on. It's from a newsletter by the independent bookstore Diesel, in the Oakland, CA, area:

With Independence Day celebrations beginning it seems as good a time as any to celebrate our independents. With the closing of several prominent, internationally-recognized bookstores in the last couple of months--Dutton's in Brentwood, Cody's Books and the Graduate Theological Bookstore in Berkeley--it seems important to take stock of where independent bookselling stands, what it stands for, and what stands against it. Simply put, many stores like ours are doing well, supported by dedicated, intelligent communities of readers who understand the pleasures, virtues, and vital services neighborhood bookstores offer. The closures of these stores should not be misread as some fateful indication of the inevitable decline of independent businesses. However, they do reveal the risks threatening independent businesses these days: escalating overhead costs including rent; reader choices gravitating toward media-encouraged internet purchasing; publisher accommodation to the pressures from increasingly consolidated clients (Amazon, Costco, Walmart, chains) leveraging their power to secure preferential terms. All of these forces work against the greater health of the culture and combine to threaten neighborhood bookstores. Most of them can be alleviated through very simple acts: do not heed the media's predictions and recommendations for 'consumer' behavior; do not increase, through your purchases, the centralised power of large internet and chain companies which distort the markets of cultural goods; and support your local stores. (For more on independent bookstores, check out IndieBound.) Please excuse the rant, but it just has to be said. We hope you enjoy our recommendations and have a summer full of wonderful books.

Well put. Happy 4th all you Americanos!

Here's a summer reading list from World Changing. Glad to see a Chin Music title sneak into the pack!

Peter Goodman over at Stonebridge Press has the fever. Obama fever, that is. Check out his line of Obama kana products — shirts, mugs and hats with"Obama" spelled out in hiragana. Better yet, buy some, and make this an internationally flavored 4th of July weekend.

Here's a great story on Book Expo America and the constant hand-wringing of large book publishers by Paul Constant. His argument pretty much boils down to this: Large publishers are cowardly crowd-followers; readers are as hungry as ever for good literature and tired of being talked down to by the cowardly large publishers; and this has created a huge opportunity for small presses and indie bookstores.

It's funny, but in this ecosystem, the "small" publishers he refers to are the very ones we look up to: Akashic, Small Beer, McSweeney's, Soft Skull. We're saving up to someday be able to afford a booth at BEA, so I guess that puts us in the teeny-weeny press category, a garage band of sorts. But all the same, I think his argument holds true. The old venues for reviews and publicity are becoming less and less relevant, and today's small press has to be nimble enough to get its books talked about in other venues. Readers will respond, as we've found in our tiny slice of the publishing world. And the good thing is we're still being discovered.

Constant made me laugh out loud several times in this piece, like when he contemplates facing the apocalypse at Larry King's house:

I grab a beer and slip back inside the house. Unsurprisingly, there are some books by Larry King on the bookshelves—I resist the urge to see if they are lovingly inscribed from Larry to Larry. Though the shelves probably cost more than my father made in six months at his job in a paper mill, the collection of books is roughly identical to my parents'. There are some mysteries, a couple of inspirational-type books, a dictionary. There's a People Magazine Almanac from 2006. I imagine what would happen if, like in the TV show 24, an atomic bomb went off in Los Angeles and all these people and I wound up duct-taped into Larry King's house, waiting out the fallout. We wouldn't suffer for food, of course. There's enough bison and cheese for everyone, so the class struggle wouldn't turn to violent cannibalism or anything like that. There's enough booze to keep us insensate through the apocalypse, too. But the books. The few times in my life when I've been deprived of books, I've become monstrous and depressed, as though going through physical withdrawal. What would I read if I wound up trapped in here for a few weeks? I look at Larry King's shelves. There is nothing that interests me. It is a barren wasteland, and if I had to subsist on it, I'd die.

Thanks to Akira at Design Kompany for bringing the article to my attention.

The Daily Yomiuri ran an upbeat review of our latest addition to the Chin Music family, Art Space Tokyo. The reviewer sums up our book this way:

Art Space Tokyo is a snapshot of the Tokyo art world as it is now. But with forward-looking organizations such as the new contemporary art fair 101 Tokyo and Art Initiative Tokyo hoping to break new ground, Art Space Tokyo may also help to better understand the city's future.

Damn straight. Thanks DY.

Chapter 8 of Curing Japan's America Addiction as seen through the eyes of Wordle, a word cloud generator created by Jonathan Feinberg.

CJAA will be available for purchase in a few weeks time.