Tuttle book reviews

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

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18,908

• 8 Aug 2014

• #1

We have been contacted by Tuttle, a publishing house most likely known to anyone with the slightest interest in publications related to East Asia, in particular Japan.

From Wikipedia:

Publisher and book dealer Charles E. Tuttle (1915–1993) founded the company in 1948 in Tokyo, Japan, with the aim of publishing "books to span the East and West." It was the 31st corporation approved by the occupying Allied administration. In its first year of operation, the company imported and distributed US paperback publications to the occupying forces, and the next year, it released its first publication. From 1951, it published many books on the Japanese language, arts, and culture, as well as translations of Japanese works into the English language.

In 1953, part of the company was separated to form a new, partially owned company, Yohan, which took on responsibility for distributing US paperback books and magazines. The Charles E. Tuttle Company retained responsibility for distributing UK publications. In 1991, under chief executive Peter Ackroyd, a planned acquisition of the Atlantic Monthly Press failed to eventuate. According to executives, "Tuttle, which specializes in Japanese and other Asian books, came to feel that it was putting its existing business at risk by acquiring Atlantic." In 1996, the company changed its name to Tuttle Publishing.

Since its founding, Tuttle has published more than 6,000 books and today maintains an active backlist of around 2,000 titles. The company now produces 150 new titles each year, most of which still focus on the areas of Asian interest that Tuttle has long been known for―everything from Asian literature and language learning to cooking, art, crafts, and design.

Click to expand...

Tuttle has generously offered us to provide JREF members with free copies of any of their Japan-related titles if we review them and publish those reviews on JREF. I am thinking of either setting up a subsection here on the forum or create a new Book Review section altogether.

As mentioned in the Wikipedia stub, their titles encompass topics such as

- Japanese language learning

- Japanese history

- Japanese art and design

- Origami and crafts

- Guide books on Japan

- Japanese food and cooking

- Martial arts

- Japanese literature and poetry, etc.

Find all of their titles on Japan here:

===> Books By Country - Japan - Tuttle Publishing


Therefore...

... if you are interested in reviewing a particular title and have your review published on JREF, please contact me through PM as soon as possible. Once we have a batch of titles, I shall forward them to you by mail. Needless to say, the copy will be yours to keep.


More information in regard to review guidelines and criteria will be posted here soon. I am looking forward to a lot of feedback!

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

21,053

18,908

• 10 Aug 2014

• Thread starter
• #2

A little update: we have already three volunteers (including yours sincerely) who signed up for book reviews.

Who else is interested in free, Japan-related books? I recommend you take a look at Tuttle's excellent selection listed above, there's something for every taste. And as long as you promise to review all of them, you are free to select more than one title.

I did mention that they are complimentary, didn't I?

 

WonkoTheSane

先輩

12 May 2013

1,335

311

• 11 Aug 2014

• #3

I'm deeply interested in the language learning and crafts categories, but possibly transitioning to mainland soon so my shipping address would change.

Any chance of digital downloads?

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

21,053

18,908

• 11 Aug 2014

• Thread starter
• #4

Tuttle told me they'd offer ebooks, too. Some of their older titles as well as a few that are no longer in print have been formatted and uploaded as ebooks; here's the list I got:

KOREA IMPOSSIBLE CON


9781462910229

HIST JAPN REVISED


9781462900978

UNIT 731


9781462900824

OKINAWA HIST ISLAND


9781462901845

SHINSENGUMI PB


9781462913589

TOKYO EDO TO SHOWA


9781462901050

SAMURAI REVOLUTION


9781462913510

SHOWA JAPAN


9781462900268

YOSHIWARA


9781462900282

SIX MONTHS SANDWICH


9781462911608

TEA DRNK CHGD WORLD


9781462900138

BALI CHRONICLES


9781462902118

EARLY JAPNS RAILWAYS


9781462907212

ANCIENT HAWAII CIVIL


9781462904389

KOREA HIST


9781462912483

RESIDENCE 21 YEARS


9781462911592

JAPANESE PORTRAITS


9781462902170

FORGOTTEN ISLANDS


9781462909469

MYTHS LGNDS POLYN


9781462907786

ISLANDS OF DESTINY


9781462912681

HIST CHRISTIANITY JP


9781462912339

TALE OF OLD JAPAN


9781462903337

CHINA ILLUSTRATED


9781462906901

JAPN DIARY


9781462911523

TERRACED HELL


9781462912100

HAWAIIAN HISTORIC LG


9781462901357

CONQUEST OF JAVA


9781462904709

POLYNESIAN RESEACH


9781462904587

JEWS & THE JAPANESE


9781462903962

DIPLOMAT IN JAPAN


9781462911424

RENAISSANCE IN JAPAN


9781462912094

GUAM PAST AND PRESEN


9781462913251

HIST JAPNS LIT


9781462907649

DRAMA OF FIJI


9781462912650

CASTLES IN JAPAN


9781462912179

MEN FROM UNDER SKY


9781462912285

OCCUPATION WO TROOP


9781462903702

MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF


9781462911448

IMPRESS JAPN ARCH


9781462900800

ISLAND OF JAVA


9781462902156

TRADE CRAFT OLD JAPN


9781462913305

FORN CORRESPONDNT


9781462901944

AROUND WORLD W KING


9781462911509

CUSTOMS AND CULTURE


9781462913169

VIETNAM WAR: WHY


9781462912872

FIRE AND WATER


9781462912056

NIGHTLESS CITY


9781462912506

CALABASHES AND KINGS


9781462912438

BRIDES BRIDEWELL


9781462913282

BOY TRAVELLERS


9781462912261

HAWAII LEGEND VOLCAN


9781462904464

OLD LANDM HIST BOST 9781462912490

SHADES OF THE PAST 9781462905010

ROAD TO DELHI 9781462912780

JAPAN PAST & PRESENT 9781462905218

JISHIN 9781462901104

CAPITALIST N KOREA 9781462914104

HR MAKING MEIJI ST 9781462912544

 

V

Vincent3

後輩

13 Aug 2014

75

27

• 13 Aug 2014

• #5

Thomas, I thought I sent a PM to you, but don't see it in my sent box. If you didn't get it, I'll try again. Thanks!

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

21,053

18,908

• 13 Aug 2014

• Thread starter
• #6

Thanks Vincent, I'm at work and shall reply to you shortly.

 

E

Emmanvet

Registered

9 Aug 2014

1

0

• 13 Aug 2014

• #7

Thomas, I sent you a PM. Thanks

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

21,053

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• 14 Aug 2014

• Thread starter
• #8

Thanks to everyone who agreed to participate in our Tuttle review campaign! We have now received a sufficient amount of applications and shall forward the titles selected by our members to Tuttle.

More info on the review format to be posted here soon!

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

21,053

18,908

• 29 Aug 2014

• Thread starter
• #9

I'm sorry for the belated update, but I'm glad to report that we received a large parcel from Tuttle Japan just yesterday.

It has to be pointed out that Tuttle did not have all titles we requested in stock (either because they are old or they are not on sale in Japan), but they have thrown in newer titles covering similar topics. I shall contact each reviewer by PM in order to inform them on their titles and start sending them out next week.

I would also like to draw your attention to our review guidelines below and hope they make sense. Thanks again to everyone who is taking part!


REVIEW GUIDELINES

Length: 500-750 words

Content:

- intended audience for the book and who would find it useful
- background of the author
- main ideas and major objectives of the book and how effectively they are accomplished
- comparison with other works on this subject
- constructive comments about the strength and weaknesses of the book
- reference to specific chapters as appropriate

Header should include:

- name of the reviewer (or alternatively, nickname or forum handle)
- title of book
- year and of publication
- publisher
- number of pages
- price (indicate paperback or hard cover), if available ISBN

 

Last edited: 29 Aug 2014

sutekinaniji

Registered

9 Aug 2014

1

0

• 4 Sep 2014

• #10

Thanks for the update Thomas! My, I'm so excited for the books to arrive!
(wishing they won't get held up at customs though, ugh)

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

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• 16 Sep 2014

• Thread starter
• #11

FYI: all the books have been sent today by EMS. Kindly confirm delivery by PM. Thanks!

 

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

Moderator

Donor

Twenty-year veteran

8 Aug 2005

7,316

3,727

• 17 Sep 2014

• #12

I wish I had the time to participate, I just wanted to point out that this is awesome

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

21,053

18,908

• 6 Nov 2014

• Thread starter
• #13

Just a little update: our first two reviews are online!

600 Basic Japanese Verbs
by @Emmanvet

Japanese Design
by @Dotanbatan

Thank you!

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

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• 15 Nov 2014

• Thread starter
• #14

And one more just uploaded! Thanks @nekojita !

日本語 - Japanese Respect Language

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

21,053

18,908

• 13 Feb 2015

• Thread starter
• #15

Talking to myself here, but we had another Tuttle review submitted:

The Japanese Mind
=> Culture - The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture
reviewed by @Vincent3

Thanks a lot!

I was contacted by Tuttle this week, there might be something else in the pipeline.

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

21,053

18,908

• 11 Jun 2015

• Thread starter
• #16

We were offered a new batch of books by Tuttle Publishing. Who is up for another round of reviews?

The usual terms apply, check this thread for more info.

The following titles are available:



Tokyo: Capital of Cool: Rob Goss: 9784805313176: Amazon.com: Books


Japan Journeys: Famous Woodblock Prints of Cultural Sights in Japan: Andreas Marks: 9784805313107: Amazon.com: Books


Amazon.com: Japanese Kanji Made Easy: Learn 1,000 Kanji and Kana the Fun and Easy Way (Includes Audio CD) (9784805312773): Michael L. Kluemper: Books


Making Out in Japanese: (Japanese Phrasebook) (Making Out Books): Todd Geers, Erika Hoburg, Elisha Geers: 9784805312247: Amazon.com: Books


Survival Japanese: How to Communicate without Fuss or Fear Instantly! (Japanese Phrasebook) (Survival Series): Boye Lafayette De Mente, Junji Kawai: 9784805313220: Amazon.com: Books


Amazon.com: Learning Japanese Hiragana and Katakana: A Workbook for Self-Study (9784805312278): Kenneth G. Henshall, Tetsuo Takagaki: Books


Please contact me by Private Conversation if you would like to review one or more of the titles above.

Thank you!

 

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

Admin

14 Mar 2002

21,053

18,908

• 12 Jun 2015

• Thread starter
• #17

We have an actual volunteer for "Japan Journeys"! Is there any one interested in reviewing the other titles? In case that wasn't clear: the books will be sent to you and they will be yours, of course!