Our First Release

When we set out to find stories for Kuhaku & Other Accounts from Japan, we knew what we wanted: candid tales of life in Japan that weren't trying to slice and dice the country and the culture into digestable nuggets. We weren't looking for Ph.D. dissertations, just smartly told tales from the street.

Having lived in Japan for a long time, we realized these stories were everywhere. We tracked the writers down, asked permission to publish their tales, or more often, prodded them to put that story they had told us down on paper. Just about everybody responded favorably.

The stories in Kuhaku come from everywhere: tall tales told over beers in a pub, stories of corporate drudgery related during the lunch hour, doodlings on napkins at the local Starbucks and professional pieces produced on deadline for far-away readers.

Content Links

"Kuhaku is much more than accounts of modern Japanese living; we are also treated to the emotional landscape of the Japanese people."

Todd Shimoda, author of two novels:
The Fourth Treasure, and 365 Views of Mt. Fuji

Kuhaku (is) a collection of essays and accounts set in Japan that demands to be described as a first of its kind and hopefully paves the way for more of the same.

Will Yong
japanvisitor.com

One thing that Kuhaku systematically achieves is a vision. The vision is to capture a feel, an attitude -- the zeitgeist if you will -- of contemporary Japan.

Brian Chapman
Amazon.com

It is beautifully produced ... Plus, there is such a wide range of literary styles inside. It's a great anthology.

Suzanne DeGaetano
co-owner, Mac's Backs bookstore
Cleveland, OH

Kuhaku ... succeeds in providing an insightful account of the way things really are in a country that spends so much time polishing its image. The book is particularly valuable to those who have spent or will spend an extended period of time in Japan.

AJET Across Japan, 2004

[A]ll contained in a handsome and beautifully designed clothbound volume ... The traps that snare commentators on this peculiar nation are either expertly avoided or ignored completely, and in the sundry tales of families, affairs, pets, beverages, garbage and loves Japan emerges in fits and starts, stripped of its abstractions - defiant, utterly unique, and surprisingly tender.

Joseph Badtke-Berkow
Papersky Magazine, 2005

I just wanted to say that as I finished Kuhaku last night for the first time I was left with that wonderful feeling of disappointment that occurs when you finish reading an amazing book that you don't want to end. Thank you.

Wesley Griffin
Burtonsville, MD

Just finished Kuhaku, it is amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time to collect great stories and pictures and bind them in such a well-designed way. I enjoyed every minute of it and was disappointed to reach the end so quickly.

Martin Hansen
London, UK

Thanks very much for Kuhaku. It's nice to see people making books that are as good to own as they are to read. Beautifully designed and produced - a rarity compared to the shiny suited offerings in my local bookshop.

Rob Wilson