Sunmark Publishing Rights Highlights
and NEWS Mail--September 2018 Issue
Hello, my name is Akiko Kuwajima.
I’m a book editor and a member of the Rights Department at Sunmark Publishing.
This summer in Japan is particularly hot. The other day I went to Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan, on a little early summer vacation. I went to Okishima, a small island floating in Lake Biwa. Since that visit, I’ve made some “Funa sushi”, which is an ancient Japanese fermented dish from the area. You salt the fish called Nigorobuna and ferment it with cooked rice. It can be pickled in the hot season and then eaten in late autumn. Because it takes time and labor, it’s said to be fine cuisine. I’m looking forward to enjoying it.
Hope you all have a nice summer vacation.
If you have any questions or inquiries about this NEWS Mail, please contact Ms. Shino Kobayashi, Rights Manager (rights@sunmark.co.jp)
Before the Coffee Gets Cold made into a movie
The bestselling novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, has filmed, and now it’s ready to be released on September 21st in Japan, followed by its release in Taiwan on October 5th. We believe the movie will succeed on its own merits and will also be a good “following wind” for the marketing we’ve already done for the book.
ISBN978-4-7631-3705-0 C0095
101 pages / July 2018 / 1,500 yen (w/o tax)
Tracing will heal your soul and brighten up your life. Japan’s first dragon coloring and tracing book will bring good fortune into your life.
Activities such as the hand-copying of sutras and tracing of pictures of Buddha have existed since ancient times. We have felt that these activities were also a way to receive divine blessings. The same goes for tracing dragons. Tracing the lines that make up the dragon’s shape puts you in harmony with the dragon’s power.
Author Satoru Sato is responsible for the most ceiling paintings decorating shrines and temples produced by one person in all of Japan.
This book contains various styles of dragon drawings, ranging from classical to modern dragons pictured in space or around Tokyo Skytree, and just looking at them will jolt your spirit. Tracing one page with a calligraphy pen takes about 20 minutes, a short amount of time that can be considered powerful meditation time with a dragon.
There is more to this book than just tracing and painting, however. This book also explains:
◆What we want you to know about the true nature of dragons.
◆Why does riding on the back of a dragon increase your fortune?
◆Why are dragons depicted on the ceilings of shrines and temples?
From his experience as an active ceiling mural painter and a pupil of the late Seikan Kobayashi, the author is able to share with us through this book the rules of an unknown world and the power of tracing and painting.
◎Dragons of the world researched by a ceiling mural painter
◎ Dragons possess energy flowing within, and energy used for protecting important things
◎Why does riding on the back of a dragon increase your fortune?
◎A mysterious prediction made by Seikan Kobayashi
◎Why are dragons depicted on the ceilings of shrines and temples?
◎ Introduction to Dragon Tracing: Each part of the dragon has energy flowing through it
◎ Put Dragon Tracing into practice: Which dragon’s energy flow would you like to connect with?
This is a new book that will turn you on to dragons. In this book, you can see a variety of epic dragon drawings, including classical dragons like those you’d see in a Japanese paintings, those of science fiction like dragons in the space which you’ve never seen before, dragons with angels, and dragons wrapped around Tokyo Skytree.
But this book isn’t just for looking: tracing and coloring the dragons brings you great fortune. Reviewers of the book also expressed how much fun it was and how their lives started looking up.
As the editor of this book, I also gave it a shot, and experienced a number of good fortunes, including receiving an invitation to an art exhibition I’d been wanting to visit and finding an important necklace I’d lost weeks before, allowing me to fully realize the benefits of dragon tracing and painting. It’s really fun, so I recommend trying it out for yourself.
ISBN978-4-7631-3678-7 C0076
80 pages / February 2018 / 1,300 yen (w/o tax)
Invite fortune into your life by using this book for coloring, viewing, decorating, and reading. This mysterious coloring book will bring a surprising amount of change to your life.
A total of 35 Japanese patterns of fortune were carefully selected that include the Fenghuang, cherry blossoms, butterflies, cranes, goldfish, bells, plovers, folding fans, ocean waves, and various treasures.
Since ancient times, Japanese people have shown respect for everything from the mountains, rivers, plains, flowers, plants and animals in nature, to everyday objects, seeing all things as containing a spirit, or deity, residing within them. All such things have been used for patterns on kimonos and various personal effects in order to invite good fortune into the users’ lives.
This book brings such meaningful Japanese patterns together in the form of a coloring book. These patterns were taken directly from real kimonos, meaning they’re rich in history and fortune.
The author was born into a long-established textile shop, later becoming a highly sought-after fortune-teller with a one-year waiting list. She also works as a voice actress for various popular works. Having been surrounded by Japanese patterns since a very young age, she put into this book her experience and knowledge of their beauty and power to provide good fortune.
Enjoy coloring your favorite patterns with your favorite colors, and experience your life open up in a whole new way.
How to use the book
・Viewing
Turn and view all of the pages.
Check to see which patterns you like the best.
Then compare them to the colored front pages.
Just doing this already boosts your fortune.
・Reading
Read the explanations that accompany the front pages and each coloring piece.
Reading about the origins of each design, along with the type of fortune each provides, boosts your fortune.
・Coloring
Use your preferred coloring tools (colored pencils, paints, or crayons), and your preferred colors.
You don’t have to do it perfectly or “beautifully.”
Referring to the explanations, choose a color that represents the energy you want to take in.
Tracing is an good idea, too. Just having fun coloring will boost your fortune.
・Decorating
Patterns that were colored in your favorite color, or even uncolored patterns of your choice are good to use for decorating.
Taking pictures of your colored patterns and setting them to your cell phone’s display screen will bring great results.
Making a habit of looking at them regularly will boost your fortune.
・Taking in good fortune
Use patterns you like for your personal belongings.
Utilizing the benefits of each pattern well will boost your fortune.
・Sharing
Tell those around you about your newfound knowledge of these designs.
Sharing happiness and having an altruistic heart boosts your own fortune as well as that of others.
Perhaps it’s not a thing for me to say this as the editor, but I truly feel we made an extremely “instagrammable” book. It can used as a decoration as it is, since it looks great even uncolored. The abundance of lucky Japanese patterns inside immediately raises your spirits. The amazing thing is that it also invites fortune, whether you color in the pictures or not. Read the explanations, color, decorate, take pictures of the artwork with your smartphone, share the book and the artwork with your friends, and increase the fortune of those around you as well as your own. Invite more fortune into your life today!