Publishers who do Books on Japan?

[Harvey]

Hey everyone!

I'm like one of the oldest members on this site!!! I kinda disappeared for about a year and a half though after I moved to Japan. I have been lurking though. This place has gotten ridiculously huge!

Hey guys I have a question that you may or may not be able to help me with.

I am working on a book project and am looking to identify potential publishers.

The book is about modern life in Japan, and could be considered a sociology book.

I have noticed people like StoneBridgePress and Tuttle but was wondering if there were any other obvious ones I was missing.

Eventually I want to approach them with my book proposal and like a few sample chapters to see what they think.

Thanks for any help all!

-Harvey

[Steve Bildermann]

and just go straight to optioning the FG movie rights.

and henceforth straight to video

[Mulboyne]

I'm reading a Sociology book called "Japanese Cybercultures" edited by Nanette Gottlieb and Mark Mclelland.
Publisher : Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
11 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4P 4EE
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
http://www.routledge.com

[Harvey]

Thanks Mulboyne that helps a lot!

Yeah Ultra I'm doing good! I have been around since I got here... Tokyo Yokohama Kurihama Paris India now Osaka! company sends me around a lot, but I like it! Things are good good. For now.

I'm really working hard on this book project. I really wanna get it published! Any other help would be appreciated as well. Any mailing lists you think would be beneficial to join and what not... I'm open to anything

THanks guys!

[kamome]

I'm really working hard on this book project.

Wait, you've been here for a year and half and already think you can write a book on Japan? Where does your expertise come from?

[cstaylor]

I've been here three years, and I feel like I could at least muster an interesting pamphlet on sumo or hostess bars.

[mr. sparkle]

Hey Harvey, good to see you around again. I guess you're having a good time and keeping pretty busy in Japan.

There was a similar thread on this topic recently, but most of the serious info seems to have been via Private Messages and email. Have a look anyway:

Mr. Sparkle needs Japanese Publisher

Hmm, maybe I should start shopping around an FG book. I'm sure stores would love to put up big displays promoting a book with "FUCKED" in giant letters. Or maybe I can skip the book and just go straight to optioning the FG movie rights.

Actually, we did our best but we did not get a publisher to pick up my book. (thanks to Gen and Steve B.). I find it baffling that it was the only major language not to translate it. Perhaps it was the exercise where you set the Chuo on fire!

I got published here in the US because I had contacts with another author and was friends with the acquisitions editor. IOW, personal contacts are what did it for me. My writing samples from some articles I wrote sealed the deal.

My suggestion? Start looking for some contacts and buy 'em a few drinks! . Good luck!

[kamome]

[quote="cstaylor"]I've been here three years, and I feel like I could at least muster an interesting pamphlet on sumo or hostess bars. ]

Yes, but your pamphlet on sumo would at least have some interesting content from Sentoryu and your father-in-law. I don't know yet where your content on hostess bars comes from, though . Harvey's content would come from.....

Speaking of interesting content, our own Captain Japan

could probably write a compendium of essays on Japan based on all of his articles at
Sake Drenched Postcards.

[cstaylor]

Well, my first IT customer was a large hostess bar (~25 women per night) in the Yokohama area. As a contractor, I was required to spend some of my cash there...

[GomiGirl]

I'm really working hard on this book project.

Wait, you've been here for a year and half and already think you can write a book on Japan? Where does your expertise come from?

C'mon, be fair.. I know people who have lived in Japan for 20 years and they are still clueless.

It all depends on how it is written, quality and balance of research and the purpose of the project.

We all flame the fools who come here for two weeks and think they have "discovered" and "worked out" the Japanese condition but if something is written from your own perspective and your reactions to what you see around you, I don't see a problem.

As soon as people start to project their own values or make conclusions based on imperfect information then there are problems, especially if you have made your conclusions before you start the research.

[kamome]

I'm really working hard on this book project.

Wait, you've been here for a year and half and already think you can write a book on Japan? Where does your expertise come from?

It all depends on how it is written, quality and balance of research and the purpose of the project.

Yep. That's what I'm trying to find out. Still, I find it strange that anyone would pick up a pen and write an entire book about a country that they've barely lived in. Essays based on personal experience over a short term in Japan make more sense to me.

[kotatsuneko]

how about Hugo? a friend of mine had a Japanese biz dictionary published through them. good luck!

[jingai]

Harvey studied with me in Japan going back to 2000, and he had put in a few years of language study before that. He works in a completely Japanese company and lives in a Japanese dorm. If that ain't grist for a good story, I don't know what is. I'd much rather read what Harvey has to say than an ignorant pufferfish who "spent a lot of time in Japan" like Karel van Wolferen.

[Harvey]

You guys are funny Thanks Jingai!
Anyway, the book isn't about my experiences.

Any news on other publishers?

Checking Kinokuniya I noticed that Tuttle like... Own's the place when it comes to Englilsh language books about Japan. Do they have the same presence in the states?

Vintage also has got some good stuff out, but from looking at their website I can't find the place where people send in manuscripts... Hrm.... Maybe you must go through an agent to reach them? Tuttle's site is really easy to get at though... maybe too easy...

-Harvey

[Mulboyne]

I am working on a book project and am looking to identify potential publishers. The book is about modern life in Japan, and could be considered a sociology book.

Late follow-up but..
Trans Pacific Press have a good range of Japan Sociology titles too. Like Routledge, though, the sociology is academically-inclined.

[Taro Toporific]

English language books about Japan. Do they have the same presence in the states?

Stone Bridge Press in Berkeley works with many f'ed gaijin authors and Japanese subjects....The Stone Bridge Press' complete list of books.

They published the TokyoQ's books/mooks forRick Kennedy.

[GomiGirl]

[Taro Toporific]

I am working on a book project and am looking to identify potential publishers.
The book is about modern life in Japan...
I have noticed people like StoneBridgePress and Tuttle but was wondering if there were any other obvious ones I was missing.

While this buyout could be "good news" since Stone Bridge Press never had enough capital, I suspect that Yohan will much things up in the long term.

Japanese book distributor Yohan buys American publishing company Stone Bridge Press
New Age Media Concepts (press release) - 2 Feb 2005
BERKELEY, CA, (NAMC) - Stone Bridge Press, LLC, of Berkeley, California, has been purchased by Yohan, Inc. of Tokyo, Japan.
Stone Bridge Press is an English-language publisher specializing in books about Japan and Asia. Founded in 1989 by publisher and editor-in-chief Peter Goodman, the company has over 85 titles in print and has received numerous awards for publishing excellence, including two Benjamin Franklin Awards. Among its authors are Donald Richie (The Inland Sea, The Japan Journals) and Leonard Koren (Wabi-Sabi). Stone Bridge's books about anime, manga, and film have established the press as a leading source of information about Japanese popular culture. ...more...