Roland Kelts's Blog, page 84

TokyoPop Tour Update w/Stu Levy

TokyoPop hits the highway to save manga in America

Posted by Roland Kelts on August 2nd, 2010 at 12:01 AM

[Translate:]

TokyoPop will find you

The first time I met Stuart Levy, Founder, CEO and CCO of 12-year-old distributor, producer and proselytizer of Japanese comics and animation, TokyoPop, he was dauntingly sanguine. At the time I was conducting research and interviews for my book, , and Levy garrulously held forth in TokyoPop's Tokyo headquarters about new movies, new TV...

New print of Japanamerica in Japan...

...courtesy of Takeda Random House, formerly Random House Kodansha:

Interview with Haruki Murakami, out now in Japan

My interview with Haruki Murakami on America, American literature, and American readers has just been released here in Japan in "Monkey Business." The interview was translated by Motoyuki Shibata, and I am honored.
Online info HERE.
Amazon purchase HERE.

7月20日発売

定価：1,575円（本体価格 1,500円＋税）
ISBN：978-4-86332-264-6

Dialogue

内田 樹×柴田元幸
辺境から生まれるもの――内田樹・柴田元幸《アメリカ》対談

Essay

リン・ディン　休み時間をカジノで　訳―平塚隼介

短歌

穂村 弘　行ってみたいな僕の国

Reflection

レベッカ・ブラウン　ホーソーン　訳―柴田元幸

Interview

村上春樹 　
サリンジャー、『グレート・ギャツビー』、なぜアメリカの読者は時として

Japanamerica drumming...? Tokyo

Oops. I also play the drums:

ESCAPE the HEAT --
Come See ALi-MO and be CoooLL!

Date: July 24, Saturday

Venue: What The Dickens! (EBISU)
http://www.towncryer.jp/WTD.html
4th Floor, Loop6 Bldg
1-13-3 Ebisu-Nishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-5545-4242

Time: 9:00-ish p.m. till midnight
Price: FREE!!

Norwegian Wood / Noruwei no Mori teaser

Me and Miyazaki @ UC Berkeley

link HERE.

Geisha Beer Gardens in Kyoto/ Telegraph UK

by Danielle Demetriou for Telegraph.co.uk.

Say the word "geisha" and images of beautiful kimono-clad women serving green tea, reciting poetry and playing classical instruments may spring to mind.

In Japan, outsiders typically pay hundreds of pounds in order to spend several hours with geisha in teahouses, with activities including artful conversation, and dancing.

But the lull in the global economy appears to be forcing the world of geisha to seek more enterprising — and cheaper - ways of...

Road odes from TOKYOPOP's US Tour

TokyoPop will find you

When I first met Stuart Levy, founder and leader of 12-year-old distributor, producer and proselytizer of Japanese comics and animation, TokyoPop, he was dauntingly sanguine. At the time I was conducting research and interviews for my book,

TokyoPop slashed its workforce two ...

Anime Avatars in the USA

SOFT POWER HARD TRUTHS / Know thy audience

Roland Kelts / Special to The Daily Yomiuri

A few months ago in New York, I got wind of an enterprising new virtual reality game called TinierMe. The principal developer, the Japanese gaming company GCrest, a division of CyberAgent Inc., opened an office in San Francisco earlier this year for the U.S. launch of its virtual reality portal featuring anime -style visuals.

Imagine Second Life with avatars that look like anime characters, giving American...

Japanamerica & manga on the BBC

Audio HERE