Tokyo

It's not just that Tsutaya feels more upscale than other bookstores. It's that it celebrates words and books, and the people who read and write them, in a thoughtful, seductive, and ultra-contemporary way.

Don't get me wrong: This is a business, not a cultural institution. It sells books from 7:00 am till 2:00 am every day of the week, closing only to clean and restock. And it's always packed. This first location has proved such a hit that another site has already opened in the Kanagawa area outside Tokyo

Overdrive Acquired by Rakuten, Owners of Kobo (GoodeReader) Tokyo-based Rakuten, Inc., one of the world’s largest internet service companies, has acquired OverDrive in what is another in a long line of acquisitions dedicated to increasing the global footprint of companies, adding reading focus to its practices, and extending itself into new markets. *** How to […]

The post Morning Links: Overdrive acquired by Rakuten. Raising kids who read appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.

“Auld Lang Syne” is a song you’ll hear the world over, from Tokyo to Tashkent. (And after many years in Asia, I can testify to that.) Chances are that a fair slice of the world’s population, of multiple ethnicities, will be either singing it or hearing it at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s […]

The post The origins of Auld Lang Syne – the world’s most popular poem appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.

According to the media, the e-book era in Japan began in 2010, with the debut of Apple Inc.'s iPad, Sony Corp.'s Sony Reader and other e-book services.

The market has been growing, but not as fast as in the United States. In Japan, regular use of the technology remains limited.

Matthew Amster-Burton did something a lot of writers eyeing the ebook market would like to do but don’t know how or even how to start. Amster-Burton did know how, and not only did he make a pretty good start, using Kickstarter to fund his travels and the publication of his story, he ended up writing [...]

The post Seattle food writer, Matthew Amster-Burton, turns his taste buds to Tokyo appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.

When the Guardian posted a “news article” earlier this year headlined “Eyeball-licking: the fetish that is making Japanese teenagers sick,” all hell broke loose. That’s because the “story” was a hoax, and the Guardian, along with a number of news-gathering outlets, did not do the proper fact-checking that such stories warrant. But thanks to the Tokyo-based [...]

The post Eyeball-licking trend in Japan debunked by sharp-eyed reporter appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.

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