Kuhaku & Other Accounts from Japan
By Bruce Rutledge (Editor); Craig Mod (Illustrator); (Illustrator)
(Chin Music Press Inc., Hardcover, 9780974199504, 224pp.)
Publication Date: April 2005
Categories: Asian
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"What better way to invite a reader to explore the lavish surfaces and lonely depths of contemporary Japan than with a book so well-designed it whispers 'covet me' from across the room? ... Inconclusive in the best possible way, by turns pointed and generous, Kuhaku paints a shifting portrait of a shifting place." —Ellis Avery, Kyoto Journal
"[Chin Music Press] is a company that is rewriting the rule book." — Bookslut
Travel past the temples and tourist sites and into the mind of modern Japan with this anthology, the literary equivalent of a knockdown pitch. Sixteen stories and essays by different writers destroy the many stereotypes about Japan. Say farewell to Madame Butterfly and the samurai ethic, and say hello to a complex nation that makes both a frustrating and fascinating home.
This collection includes stories on everything from taking out the garbage to cheating on your spouse. It also has an irreverent and informative glossary of real-world Japanese terms, four-color artwork and a Zen whiskey priest who would make Graham Greene proud.
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.
Kuhaku's stories come from everywhere: 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.
Bruce Rutledge is a journalist, author and editor. He has published extensively on Japan. Rutledge edited Kuhaku after founding Chin Music Press in 2002.
Craig Mod is a designer, illustrator and photographer living in Tokyo. He designed Kuhaku and also did many of the illustrations.
Kozyndan are a husband and wife team known for their realistic illustrations of modern Japan cityscapes that come complete with fantastic characters like skipping pink giraffes, out-of-control robots or little tofu creatures. They provided the 4-color artwork for Kuhaku.
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