Our good friend and colleague Mika Tsuneda's CD/book set will be released on December 1st. "Kimi No Soba Ni" (Close to You) includes a CD with original music composed by Mika, and performed by her group "Wings." It also includes all the lyrics of the songs on the CD, photos by Mika, several essays by Mika, and some Scripture. This set is a wonderful combination of visuals, sound, and printed words. But, the really exciting thing is that Book Com, the publisher, is a mainstream Japanese publishing house. This means that this book is going to be sold all over Japan, in hundreds of bookstores! Making it accessible to a wide range of readers here in book loving Japan.I went with Mika to Book Com so I got to meet the two men she has been working with (a promoter and an editor). It was amazing to here them say things like, "this book is for people who are seeking something, this book is for people who are looking for healinhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifg, these photos have power." They were warm and supportive towards Mika and seemed genuinely excited about the book. One incredible fact they told us is that every day there are four hundred books published in Japan! That does not include manga, magazines, or newspapers. Amazing.
If "Kimi No Soba Ni" sells well, and I think it will, all kinds of possibilities will open up for publishing other books by Mika, as well as others. Perhaps it will become a series.... with several artists who are Christians publishing similar works of art.
How to Order:
++Book Details in Japanese: 「君のそばに」 CD付フォト＆エッセイ/常田美香（ウイングス）
++Any bookstore in Japan should be able to order the book, if asked to do so.
++You can order directly from the Publisher "Book Com"
++Japan Amazon also has it but at this time is out of stock "Kimi No Soba Ni" on Japan Amazon
++If you live overseas and want to place an order, write to me by putting a comment on this blog, if you want to keep it private just indicate that and no one else will see it.
The center page is this photo of "love" written on a moist window, with flowers visible in the background
2 comments:
Well, I've been trying to find Mika's book in the Tohoku area, and so far, nobody around has it. Also, Amazon.co.jp lists it as "currently" unavailable. I hope that is a good sign, but you can never be too sure.
And for those trying to search for the book, Tsuneda Mika's name in Kanji is 常田 美香.
Paul, any followup on this?
Thanks Scot for your comment. Any bookstore in Japan should be able to order the book, if asked to do so. I just posted information on how to order from the publisher as well as a link to Amazon Japan.
It sounds like people are responding to this book. Since Dec. 1st Mika has already sold 350 copies. The local store near where I live said "it is selling well!"
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