Bikoo’s blog covers digital publishing, software tools, Japanese art and artists, and generally all things fantastic. Bikoo Japan is a translation, branding, and distribution platform connecting Japanese artists to a global audience.
「魔獣狩り」シリーズ翻訳者、われらがジョナサン・ロイドデイビス氏が翻訳を担当した「リング」「らせん」などの作品で知られる鈴木光司氏のホラー小説「エッジ」が、米マサチューセッツ州バーリントンで現地時間7月14日に選考会が行われた文学賞「シャーリー・ジャクスン賞」の長編賞を受賞しました！長編小説部門での日本の小説の受賞は、初となる快挙です。シャーリー・ジャクスン賞は、心理的サスペンス、ホラー、ダークファンタジーのジャンルにおいて最も優れた小説に贈られる文学賞で、作家、編集者、批評家、研究者からなる審査員の投票により決定されます。 シャーリー・ジャクスン賞公式ウェブサイトhttp://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/ 受賞に関する新聞社等のニュース記事 http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/entertainment/2026637/full/ ht …Read on
It took a few years, but Apple has finally begun selling Japanese eBooks through it’s iBookstore. It looks like vertical, right to left language support is included in the release. I’m hoping that the language support is included for Western book stores as well. Bikoo is currently in the process of translating and preparing a book for English release and we’d love to include t …Read on
Line boasts 40 million monthly active users, or two times the number of active Facebook users in Japan. They’re the best modern example of a Japanese (Actually the company is Korean, but Line was developed in Japan) company making a product that is not just a hit at home, but also a viable product abroad. The interface is slick, there are no elements that are culturally trapped, and the se …Read on
Kobo Daishi, also known as Kukai, was the founder of esoteric buddhism (Shingon Buddhism) in Japan. He stands as a singularly important figure in the history of Buddhist development. Birth The official record shows that Kukai’s mother became pregnant after dreaming of an old Indian sage entering into her womb. He was born in the town of Zentsuji in 774 to an aristocratic family and the pos …Read on
…All it takes to defend against demons and devils is a strong will, a few strands of hair, and our handy step-by-step guide to creating the Sacrosanct Barrier pulled directly from The Psyche Diver Series – Demon Hunters: Desires of the Flesh! What in Japan’s Name is a Sacrosanct Barrier? He sat in the center of a Sacrosanct Barrier, a circular area with a ten-meter radius. Biku had ev …Read on
Psyche Diver is chock full of insanity that seems pure fiction. It’s real though. For readers outside of Japan, it’s easy to think the series is pure fantasy–the work of a guy obsessed with sex and violence. But the book is a virtual introductory course on the craziest elements of Japan’s past. Time to countdown the top five crazy things that are really real: 5. Tachikawa-Ryu – Enl …Read on
Bikoo scoured the world for a translator up to the challenge of unwinding and repackaging Demon Hunters: Desires of the Flesh. We found exactly that person in Jonathan Lloyd-Davies. When Bikoo first began reading Majugari (Demon Hunters), we were struck by the sheer intensity of Baku Yumemakura’s work. After searching for the English version and coming up empty, Bikoo quickly approached Baku Yum …Read on
The NWBLK hosted a movie night as a collaboration between local fixtures Rice, Paper, Scissors and Alite Designs, featuring Wet Hot American Summer. We arrived early, around 4 o’clock, with just enough time to grab a cappuccino at Blue Bottle Coffee in the new Heath factory down the street. For those of you that live in another part of the world, you’ll find out about Heath Ceramics and Blue Bott …Read on
We asked Baku Yumemakura to give us a list of his favorite artists. Baku-san is a very busy man, so the list was short, but there is an interesting range of personalities: Authors Dan Simmons Stephen King Connie Willis Sources of Inspiration Ray Bradbury Sir Arthur Charles Clarke Isaac Asimov Brian Aldiss Film Directors George Lucas Steven Spielberg James Cameron Musicians Bert Seager Beatles Keit …Read on
Bikoo chose to run WordPress on Pagoda Box, a powerful, inexpensive and flexible PaaS system. In preparation for the launch of our first book, Demon Hunters: Desires of the Flesh, Bikoo began developing a website to support the launch and give some insight into our work. Choosing a CMS was straightforward. WordPress is powerful, easy to develop and highly extensible. We are not a software developm …Read on