/24-7PressRelease/ - BERKELEY, CA, May 27, 2007 - What do China's future, a mystical Japanese fox, Astro Boy, Japanese industrial design, and a stunning new form of origami have in common? They are all about to join a richly expanding list from Stone Bridge Press.
With over twice its previous seasonal number of books on the way in Fall 2007, Stone Bridge is preparing for a season bigger and broader than ever before. Renowned for its award-winning books about Japanese culture, including the seminal criticism of Donald Richie (The Inland Sea, The Donald Richie Reader) and Leonard Koren (Wabi-Sabi), and definitive books on film (The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film) and anime (The Anime Encyclopedia), Stone Bridge is extending its scope to include books about China, crafts, international design, and American foreign policy.
The season includes Frederik L. Schodt's long-awaited The Astro Boy Essays, the first English translation of Fumio Matsuo's controversial Democracy with a Gun, new works from Donald Richie, and the indispensable Stone Bridge Book of Everyday Kanji. Whether new to Asian Studies or a tried and true otaku, the curious reader always returns to Stone Bridge Press. Why? Because no one else deciphers Asian pop-culture with as much wit, wisdom, and authority.
Many Stone Bridge authors are available for interviews about their books and also for commentary on Asian pop-culture, business, film, and the arts. Please contact me for review copies or for more information on author interviews, commentaries, and events.
Best wishes,
Ari Messer, Publicist
Stone Bridge Press
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Praise for past titles from Stone Bridge Press:
Martin Scorsese on Waiting on the Weather by Teruyo Nogami:
"A wonderfully intimate and beautifully written portrait of one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived...essential reading."
The New York Times on Wabi-Sabi by Leonard Koren:
"The book...has spawned a number of imitators...[It] explains the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which celebrates earthiness, chance, unpretentiousness and intimacy of scale."
Library Journal on The Anime Encyclopedia
by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy:
"The most comprehensive source on the subject available."
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Quick Guide by Subject
ART AND DESIGN
Design Japan by the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (228pp/TP/$29.95/September)
Shikosha Design Library: Cherry Blossoms by Sachio Yoshioka (120pp/TP/$16.95/September)
Shikosha Design Library: Stencil Patterns by Sachio Yoshioka (120pp/TP/$16.95/October)
Shikosha Design Library: Sarasa Woodblock Patterns by Sachio Yoshioka (120pp/TP/$16.95/November)
BUSINESS AND POLITICS
Democracy with a Gun by Fumio Matsuo (306pp/CL/$26/September)
Business Passport to Japan by Sue Shinomiya and Brian Szepkouski (248pp/TP/$14.95/October)
China Fever by Frank Fang (256pp/CL/$24.95/October)
CLASSICS
The Flight of the Dragon by Laurence Binyon (112pp/TP/$9.95/September)
The Honorable Visitors by Donald Richie (192pp/TP/$11.95/September)
Kitsun by Kiyoshi Nozaki (180pp/TP/$12.95/September)
The Nightless City by J.E. deBecker (424pp/TP/14.95/September)
Kokoro by Lafcadio Hearn (248pp/TP/$12.95/October)
Kukai the Universal by Ryotaro Shiba (416pp/TP/$14.95/November)
CRAFTS
OriGrafix Japan by Studio Cochae (Heian Children's Books. 128pp/TP/$16.95/September)
OriGrafix Fun by Studio Cohae (Heian Children's Books. 128pp/TP/$16.95/October)
Rokoan Origami by Masako Sakai and Michie Sahara (Heian Children's Books. 72pp/TP/$24.95/October)
Money Folding by Florence Temko (Heian Children's Books. 32pp/TP/$12.95/November)
EDUCATION
Street-Smart College Essays by Janet Huseby (A Cody's Book. 144pp/TP/$11.95/September)
FICTION
Death March on Mount Hakkoda by Jiro Nitta (231pp/TP/$11.95/September)
Inugami Clan by Seishi Yokomizo (309pp/TP/$12.95/September)
The Cape by Kenji Nakagami (200pp/TP/$11.95/October)
Milky Way Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa (128pp/TP/$9.95/October)
The Name of the Flower by Kuniko Mukoda (160pp/TP/$10.95/November)
Wind and Stone by Masaaki Tachihara (160pp/TP/$10.95/November)
LANGUAGE
The Stone Bridge Book of Everyday Kanji (800pp/TP/$18.95/October)
Japanese Beyond Words by Andrew Horvat (200pp/TP/$16.95/November)
POP CULTURE
The Astro Boy Essays by Frederik L. Schodt (248pp/TP/$16.95/July)
A Critical Dictionary of Japanese Film Directors by Alexander Jacoby (340pp/TP/$22.95/November)
TRAVEL
China Survival Guide for Travelers by Larry and Qin Herzberg (160pp/TP/$9.95/September)
Kyoto by John Einarsen (128pp/TP/$19.95/September)
The Little Tokyo Subway Guidebook by IBC Publishing (96pp/TP/$9.95/September)
Travels in the East by Donald Richie (160pp/TP/$14.95/September)
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Full Annotations
ART AND DESIGN
Design Japan:
50 Creative Years with the Good Design Awards
By the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO)
978-1-933330-48-8, September
228 pages, TP, $29.95, 400 color photographs
For 50 years, the Good Design Award has been Japan's most coveted achievement in industrial design. Design Japan is more than a catalogue of the award - it's a full-scale, full-color exploration. Covering the design philosophy, history, and cutting-edge products of twenty leading Japanese companies (Sony, Panasonic, Toyota, and more), it explores how Japanese businesses and the Good Design Award, have evolved together to meet changing tastes. Includes essays by leading designers Naoto Fukazawa and Kengo Kuma.
SHIKOSHA DESIGN LIBRARY
For many years the Shikosha Publishing Company in Kyoto produced exceptional books featuring the finest traditional designs. Now, drawing on its rich storehouse of stunning images, the company has joined with Stone Bridge to launch the Shikosha Design Library. Marrying classical designs of timeless beauty to a contemporary sensibility, each volume explores color, pattern, and composition in a dazzling visual format perfect for gift-giving, inspiration, and practical use in the decorative and digital arts. The Shikosha Design Library is prepared under the supervision of Sachio Yoshioka, a fifth-generation Kyoto dyer and frequent writer on dyeing techniques and the use of color.
Cherry Blossoms
By Sachio Yoshioka
978-1-933330-57-0, September
120 pages, TP, $16.95, 110 color photos
The cherry blossom is a symbol of evanescent beauty in Japan. In this dazzling array of cherry blossom patterns, color swatches, line-drawn renderings, image reverses, and other treatments breathe new life into old conventions.
Stencil Patterns
By Sachio Yoshioka
978-1-933330-58-7, October
120 pages, TP, $16.95, 110 color photos
These dynamic stencil designs from the Edo and Showa periods are perfect for digital designers, modern quiltmakers, and anyone interested in the ancient art of stenciling.
Sarasa Woodblock Patterns
By Sachio Yoshioka
978-1-933330-59-4, November
120 pages, TP, $16.95, 110 color photos
This volume features stunning designs from Indian and Persian woodblock prints and from exquisite Persian textiles. Developed in India 2,000 years ago, sarasa is decorated cotton cloth that had an enormous artistic influence in Japan after arriving there in the 16th century.
BUSINESS AND POLITICS
Democracy with a Gun: America and the Policy of Force
By Fumio Matsuo
Translated by David Reese
978-1-933330-46-4, September
306 pages, TC, $26
With a foreign perspective rarely provided by English-language media pundits, one of Japan's best-known international journalists traces America's position today as the world's sole superpower, providing extensive analysis of America's use of force to achieve its goals. Fumio Matsuo worked for the Kyodo News Service from 1956 to 2002, serving as Washington Bureau Chief from 1981 to 1984.
China Fever: Fascination, Fear, and the World's Next Superpower
By Frank S. Fang
978-1-933330-55-6, October
256 pages, TC, $24.95
In this insider's look at the fundamental "on the ground" issues faced by China and the West, Frank S. Fang paves the way for understanding China's rapid growth and international influence. Fang, the director of the International Economics Center, an independent research organization based in Chicago, clearly explains key opportunities and conflicts at the heart of economic, political, and cultural relations.
Business Passport to Japan: Revised and Updated Edition
By Sue Shinomiya and Brian Szepkouski
978-1-933330-47-1, October
248 pages, TP, $14.95
This updated version of the essential guide to doing business in Japan goes beyond logistical details to uncover the thought processes and cultural values at play, especially in the younger generation. If you are thinking of doing business in or with Japan, then this book is the best investment you will ever make!
CLASSICS
STONE BRIDGE CLASSICS
Kitsun : Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance & Humor
By Kiyoshi Nozaki
978-1-933330-34-1, September
180 pages, TP, $12.95, 60 b&w illustrations
Stone Bridge Classics
The kitsun is the archetypal trickster figure in Japan, appearing in everything from religion and literature to video games, comics and film. Originally published in 1961 and long out-of-print, these richly detailed essays and historical illustrations explore the myths, traditions, and stories of Japan's mystical fox.
The Flight of the Dragon:
An Essay on the Theory and Practice of Art in China and Japan, Based on Original Sources
By Laurence Binyon
978-1-933330-35-8, September
112 pages, TP, $9.95
Stone Bridge Classics
In one of the earliest Western analyses of Chinese and Japanese art theory, renowned art historian Laurence Binyon attempts to understand Chinese and Japanese art theory by analyzing original records left by Eastern artists and critics. This work, first published in 1911, influenced poets such as W.B. Yeats and Ezra Pound, and is particularly perceptive on the influence of Zen on Asian art.
The Honorable Visitors
By Donald Richie
978-1-933330-36-5, September
192 pages, TP, $11.95
Stone Bridge Classics
In this humorous and revealing work, the foremost writer on Japanese culture in English recounts adventures with famed travelers to Japan, including Aldous Huxley, Rudyard Kipling, Charlie Chaplin, Truman Capote, Jean Cocteau, William Faulkner, and Angela Carter. As always, Richie's artful storytelling offers surprising insights into East and West and the human condition.
The Nightless City
or, The History of the Yoshiwara Yūkwaku
By J.E. deBecker
978-1-933330-38-9, September
424 pages, TP, $14.95
Stone Bridge Classics
The lives of geisha and courtesans, their employers and clients, and the art of sex and eroticism come to life in this masterpiece of anthropology. DeBecker reveals the history, rituals, etiquette, language, costumes, superstitions, and even medical records of Japan's famous red light district. J. E. de Becker (1863-1929) was a British lawyer and a longtime resident of Japan.
Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life
By Lafcadio Hearn
978-1-933330-37-2, October
248 pages, TP, $12.95
Stone Bridge Classics
The word kokoro translates into heart, capturing a spectrum of meanings such as spirit, courage, resolve, and sentiment. In this annotated classic, Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), one of the best-known writers on Japanese culture, gives fifteen poignant glimpses into the spiritual and emotional makeup of Japan, getting to the "heart" of a proud and often misunderstood country.
Kukai the Universal: Scenes from His Life
By Ryōtarō Shiba
Trans. by Akiko Takemoto
978-1-933330-41-9, November
416 pages, TP, $14.95
Stone Bridge Classics
The life's work of famed Japanese writer Ryōtarō Shiba, this extensive and inspired biography recounts the life of the visionary monk Kukai, known as the father of Japanese culture. Kukai founded Shingon Buddhism and, through an impressive number of artistic, lexicographic, and religious works, changed the cultural landscape of Japan forever. Annotated, with a bibliography, bibliographical index, and character index, this amazing book is a must-have for students of Japanese culture and Buddhism. Ryōtarō Shiba the Imperial Award of the Japan Academy for Kukai in 1976.
CRAFTS
HEIAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Rokoan Origami: The Art of Connecting Cranes
By Masako Sakai and Michie Sahara
978-0-89346-954-2, November
72 pages, TP, $24.95, 80 color plates
Heian Children's Books
Combining Origami: Rokoan Style 1 and 2 into one book, Rokoan Origami is an ideal way to learn the centuries-old method of Rokoan origami, where cutting and folding allows you to make up to one hundred cranes out of a single sheet of paper! Contains 51 intermediate to advanced models, with color photographs and step-by-step diagrams.
Money Folding
By Florence Temko
978-0-89346-9559, November
32 pages, TP, $12.95, color illustrations throughout
Heian Children's Books
An extensive introduction to money folding by one of the best-known origami artists alive today, this new volume combines Money Folding 1 and 2, guiding readers through the basics of paper money folding in an easy, step-by-step format. Turn currency into animals, flowers, and even figures you can wear!
ORIGRAFIX SERIES
OriGrafix Japan
978-0-89346-952-8, September
OriGrafix Fun
978-0-89346-953-5, October
By Studio Cochae
Each 128 pages, TP, $16.95, 60 color plates
Heian Children's Books
Studio Cochae is one of the hottest young design firms in Tokyo. The "free-thinking, free-moving" origami group is the brainchild of Yosuke Jikuhara and Miki Takeda, national celebrities famous for their modern, inclusive approach to origami. The OriGrafix books consist of preprinted tear-out papers with colorful pop-art designs on the front and folding lines on the back. When folded, these designs instantly become cranes, goldfish, and even sumo wrestlers!
EDUCATION
A CODY'S BOOK
Street-Smart College Essays: Personal Statements by Berkeley High Students (for the University of California and Other Select Schools)
By Janet Huseby
978-1-933330-60-0, September
144 pages, TP, $11.95
This collection of successful college admissions essays from the creative kids at Berkeley High (located near San Francisco) reflects the diversity and eclectic interests of urban and suburban students at public schools where academic ambition, gender issues, life on the streets, and love for math, music, and art are all a part of the mix. Street-Smart College Essays is the first installment in a new series from Cody's Books and Stone Bridge Press that captures the energy and activism of the Bay Area.
FICTION
STONE BRIDGE FICTION
Death March on Mount Hakkoda
By Jiro Nitta
Trans. by James Westerhoven
978-1-933330-32-7, September
231 pages, TP, $11.95
Stone Bridge Fiction
In Jiro Nitta's historical novel, a military training mission gone tragically wrong becomes an epic story about soldiers' courage and the dangers of reckless leadership. Winner of the esteemed Naoki Prize for Fiction in 1956, Jiro Nitta was one of Japan's most popular authors at the time of his death in Tokyo in 1980.
Inugami Clan
By Seishi Yokomizo
Trans. by Yumiko Yamazaki
978-1-933330-31-0, September
309 pages, TP, $12.95
Stone Bridge Fiction
A gothic murder mystery from Japan's most popular mystery writer. In 1940s Japan, the wealthy head of the Inugami Clan dies, setting off a chain of bizarre, gruesome murders. In order to find the murderer, Detective Kindaichi must unravel the clan's terrible secrets of forbidden liaisons, monstrous cruelty, and disguised identities.
Milky Way Railroad
By Kenji Miyazawa
Trans. by Joseph Sigrist & D.M. Stroud
Illus. by Ryu Okazaki
978-1-933330-40-2, October
128 pages, TP, $9.95, 16 b&w illustrations
Stone Bridge Fiction
In this tender, timeless fable about afterlife from Japan's best-loved children's writer, a young boy, alone on a hilltop one night, is swept aboard a magical train bound for the Milky Way. Appropriate for ages 12 and up.
The Cape
and Other Stories from the Japanese Ghetto
By Kenji Nakagami
Trans. by Eve Zimmerman
978-1-933330-43-3, October
200 pages, TP, $11.95
Stone Bridge Fiction
The novella "The Cape," which won Kenji Nakagami the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1976, depicts Japan's outcaste class—the burakumin—in gritty language and illuminating detail. The bare-bones, explosive stories in this volume concern the burakumin community and its struggles with complicated family histories and troubled memories.
The Name of the Flower
By Kuniko Mukoda
Trans. by Tomone Matsumoto
978-1-933330-44-0, November
160 pages, TP, $10.95
Stone Bridge Fiction
Eccentric, unsettling stories about "ordinary" Japanese families with secret layers of unhappiness and betrayal. In Tomone Matsumoto's flawless translations, Kuniko Mukoda elegantly charts the distances between men and women, people and their memories. Mukoda was awarded the prestigious Naoki Prize for Popular Fiction in 1981. Before her tragic plane crash that same year, she was also a scriptwriter well known for her domestic radio and television dramas.
Wind and Stone
By Masaaki Tachihara
Trans. by Stephen W. Kohl
978-1-933330-42-6, November
160 pages, TP, $10.95
Stone Bridge Fiction
In this evocative novel of artistic seduction and gradual destruction, Mizue cannot ignore the remarkable sexual energy in the landscapes created by Kase, her husband's garden designer. As an affair with Kase wakens new sensuality in Mizue, the garden silently watches the disintegration of her carefully constructed home life. Masaaki Tachihara, born the son of a Zen priest in Taegu, Korea, was awarded the Naoki Prize for Fiction in 1961.
LANGUAGE
The Stone Bridge Book of Everyday Kanji:
Japanese Character Reference and Writing Guide
978-1-933330-49-5, October
800 pages, TP, $18.95
Anyone studying written Japanese will welcome this comprehensive guide to all 1,945 characters designated for "daily use" (Joyo Kanji) in newspapers, magazines, and other common reading materials. Clear writing instructions and meanings make this an essential first text for beginners, as well as a durable reference for intermediate and advanced students.
Japanese Beyond Words:
The Gaijin's Guide to Verbal Skills and Cultural Clues
By Andrew Horvat
978-1-933330-52-5, November
200 pages, TP, $16.95
This new edition of the essential guide to Japanese nonverbal communication includes an index and expanded chapters. Learn about polite/rude speech, bowing, disagreeing, intonation, apologies, slang, preconceptions of foreigners, and much more. Andrew Horvat, formerly a reporter for the Associated Press, Tokyo correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, and Tokyo Bureau Chief for American Public Radio, is currently teaching courses in Japan on cross-cultural communication and language policy.
POP CULTURE
The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga-Anime Revolution
By Frederik L. Schodt
978-1-933330-54-9, July
248 pages, TP, $16.95
This collection of essays is a long-awaited insight into both Osamu Tezuka and the culture of animation that he spawned. Those curious about graphic novels worldwide, Japanese culture, and the history of animation will be delighted by Schodt's witty, accessible style. Schodt was for many years a friend of the "Japanese Walt Disney." He translated the Astro Boy manga series into English, and often served as Tezuka's interpreter. He is the author of Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, the first book in English on manga, published in 1983.
A Critical Dictionary of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day
By Alexander Jacoby
Foreword by Donald Richie
978-1-933330-53-2, November
340 pages, TP, $22.95
This new book of Japanese film directors is both a comprehensive reference and a friendly guide. With an eye for details, critic Alexander Jacoby looks at the works of over 130 Japanese filmmakers, uncovering what makes their films worth watching and what makes them tick. Each entry includes a critical summary and a filmography.
TRAVEL
China Survival Guide for Travelers:
How to Avoid Travel Troubles and Mortifying Mishaps
By Larry and Qin Herzberg
978-1-933330-51-8, September
160 pages, TP, $9.95
Complete with survival tips on etiquette, resource lists, detailed guides to hotels, taxis, airports, and bathrooms, and first-person accounts of travel mishaps (and info on how to avoid them), the first humorous travel guide to China is coming just in time for the Olympics in Beijing! Veteran travelers Larry and Qin Herzberg are professors of Chinese language and culture at Calvin College in Michigan.
Kyoto: The Forest within the Gate
By John Einarsen
978-1-933330-50-1, September
128 pages, TP, $19.95, 70 duotone photographs
In this gorgeous visual collection, John Einarsen presents 70 duotone photographs of Kyoto's temples, landscapes, gardens, and people. Founding editor and art director of the award-winning Kyoto Journal, Einarsen knows what makes Kyoto tick and how to present this layered city with focus and clarity. Contributions by leading Kyoto writers Marc Peter Keane, Edith Shiffert, Diane Durston, and Preston Houser bring the photos to life.
The Little Tokyo Subway Guidebook
By IBC Publishing
978-4-89684-457-3, September
96 pages, TP, $9.95
Prepared with the cooperation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, this little guidebook has everything you need to negotiate Tokyo's vast subway system with confidence. It includes maps with color-coded details on all thirteen subway lines, information on ticketing, tourist fares, and commuter passes, helpful phrases, and an index to help you find what you're looking for right away.
Travels in the East
By Donald Richie
Introduction by Stephen Mansfield
978-1-933330-61-7, September
160 pages, TP, $14.95
In this new collection of travel essays, the unmatchable Donald Richie explores Egypt, India, Bhutan, Mongolia, China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Borneo, Thailand, Yap, and Japan. Richie, long appreciated as Japan's "foremost foreign-born observer" (The New York Times), is at his finest here, detailing people, scenes, and sensations that will soon be no more.
* For review copies and info on author interviews and events, contact Ari Messer at ari@stonebridge.com, (510) 524-8732 x116, http://www.stonebridge.com *
Stone Bridge Press. Quality Books about Japan. http://www.stonebridge.com. 800-947-7271
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