Check out this cool video that is a great documentary about a reporter’s difficult search for the celebrated Japanese Book Author, Haruki Murakami. I just discovered this beautiful gem on YouTube the other night and I knew I had to post it because every fan of Murakami is going to enjoy watching it. In fact, if you have never heard of his books, then you should watch it, because afterwards… you will love him.

Over at THE SPHINX Blog they did a series of articles where they deeply examine Chip Kidd’s book, “BAT-MANGA: The Secret History of Batman in Japan“. You remember this book, it featured very detailed reprints of long lost manga comic book stories of Batman and Robin that were illustrated/written by Jiro Kuwata in the 1960′s. Great stuff!!

Well, THE SPHINX does a great job at breaking down and analogizing many of the individual panels and does so with a sort of a tongue-in-cheek snarky humor, it’s fun! Now, we’re linking to PART ONE and while there please be sure to view their left side-bar for Parts 2, 3 and 4. Hey, you’ll be both entertained and rewarded!

HEY! Also, if you would like an Autographed Copy of BATMAN BAT-MANGA signed by Chip Kidd then please CLICK HERE!

We’re proud to announce that last week Chip Kidd’s TED TALKS Speech, “Designing Books Is No Laughing Matter. OK, It Is”, appeared on Japanese television in an episode of SUPER PRESENTATION on April 8th, 2013. This TV Show was created in connection with TED TALKS to help, not only spread great ideas, but also to teach English to Students in Japan.

Basically, What they do, is they take the huge library of famous TED speeches and show them subtitled in Japanese while Students listen to them in English. It’s a great concept and if you’re curious what the show looked like you can visit their site to watch it, please CLICK HERE!

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly, the eagerly-awaited new novel from Haruki Murakami is set for release in Japan on Friday (that’s tomorrow!) will have an initial hardback print run of half a million copies!

The new book’s title is only available in Japanese for now and is titled, “Shikisai wo Motanai Tazaki Tsukuru to Kare no Junrei no Toshi”. An unofficial translation in English gives it the title, “Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and the Year of his Pilgrimage”.

The new novel is expected to hit bookstores on Friday, April 12th, with major outlets planning to open early at 8:00 am, while at least one large seller in Tokyo flung open its doors at midnight on Thursday (see photo down below).

Publishing house Bungeishunju Ltd. said, “Online book giant AMAZON JAPAN had received more than 20,000 pre-orders for the new novel as of Saturday, faster than any other book by Murakami.”

Half a million copies is the largest initial hardback print run for the Japanese publisher, one of the country’s biggest.

It will be Murakami’s first work in three years after the final installment of “1Q84″. That book, which can be read as “1984″ in Japanese, proved to be a worldwide phenomenon. As a side note we should mention that Chip Kidd designed the cover for the Knopf edition of 1Q84.

One last thing, we apologize for not mentioning the designer’s name of the cover to this new book. At the time of this writing we didn’t have that information.

Source: PanARMENIAN.Net

About 2 weeks ago, as a part of Japan’s 2013 Tokyo International Literary Festival , the book cover designer Chip Kidd gave a talk at the Rainy Day Bookstore in Minami, Aoyama. He discussed current Book Cover Design, Graphic Art Influences, and his love of Japanese Culture. But this post was done to share this wonderful photo taken by Naoko Takano. Her personal blog has many other photos to see and some nice information too. To view it, please CLICK HERE!

Here’s some Book Retail News that is sure to please Fans of both Chip Kidd and Batman, the Caped Crusader! Over at the ultra-awesome TFAW website they are selling Chip Kidd’s “BAT-MANGA: The Secret History of Batman in Japan” as a special Autographed Signed-Edition! This book is limited to 500 copies and for a short time it’s price is marked 17% OFF! So, Please be sure to get yours today, just CLICK HERE!

Here’s a post that is both “book-related” and wacky! There’s a new movie in Japan, titled LIBRARY WARS, that is based on the Manga Graphic Novel stories by Toshokan Sensou. Now, this series of books have already been made into an animated TV Show, the graphic up above is an example of that. But wait! Now it’s a LIVE-ACTION MOVIE!

The film tells the story of Kasahara Iku, the first woman to join the Library Task Force. In the near future in Japan, the Media Enhancement Law has been forced upon the population censoring all books and media. To counter this, the Library Defense Force was created. To protect themselves against the Media Enhancement Law Commission, all major libraries are fully equipped with a military Task Force, who take it upon themselves to protect the books and freedom of media of the people. This anime follows Iku and her fellow soldiers as they protect various special books and artifacts from the oppression of the Media Enhancement Law Commission. A love story, war story, and comedy all rolled into one.

Check out the new Movie Trailer down below:

We thought it would be a good idea to mention that Chip Kidd has teamed-up with HAKE’S AMERICANA & COLLECTIBLES to weed-out a few Rare Batman items from his massive Vintage Toy & Memorabilia collection. The auction company even created a special page called, the “Chip Kidd Collection”. Right now, as we speak, there are about 8 items up for grabs. We should mention that bidding ends on March 21, 2013. There are even some “Adam West” Autographed items and some wonderful Animation Cels.

I posted some pics here of my 2 favorite items. One is an Vintage 1960′s BATMAN Inflatable Swimming Pool Toy that is ultra super-rare and also a really great display piece ( see photo up above). I mean, just look at the shape of this thing and the amazing retro-style graphics!

Then, for the JAPANESE BAT-MANGA FANS, they’re also offering a Vintage 1960′s BATMAN Record Album made in Japan. This thing is beautiful and has incredible graphics all over it: front/back/inside, and even has a colored-vinyl record. Very cool!! For more pics of this thing please be sure to visit their website.

Actually, there are too many neat items to list so please be sure to visit HAKE’S AMERICANA for more details.

If you have been reading this awesome website for a few weeks then you might remember a blog post we did awhile back where we mention a documentary called, “TOKYO TOY GUY”. You can see that post by clicking right HERE. Anyway, TOKYO TOY GUY is a brand-new film being created by our friend Yuji and it’s all about Vintage Batman Toys. Yuji spent five years traveling all around the world to speak with major Batman Toy Collectors. The fun thing is that Yuji came to New York City where he talked with Chip Kidd. Up above is a film still showing Chip talking about his collection. Then, down below, is the brand-new movie trailer which features some new footage and we also get a chance to see some of the other people that will appear in the movie. We’re really excited about this and can’t wait to see it. The movie has a new release date around December 2012. Stay tuned to CHIPKIDD.COM and as soon as we have more info, then so will you!