Tokyo

May 13, 2013 

Haruki Murakami Photo credit: Random House
When Haruki Murakami's latest book became available for pre-order in Japan last month it broke the country's record for pre-orders on Amazon.co.jp within eleven days.

After the first week of the release, Bungeishungu, his publisher in Japan ordered one million copies to be printed. Last month book stores in Japan opened at midnight to greet long lines of customers. Haruki Murakami's latest novel is Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. This is his first new novel since writing best-selling IQ84 three years ago which also received worldwide acclaim. Murakami's books have been translated into 42 languages. Murakami lives near Tokyo and was born in Kyoto in 1949. 

Murakami was a writing fellow at Princeton Univeresity in Princeton, New Jersey, Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

No word yet on when Murakami's latest book will be translated into English, but if you can read Japanese you can check it out here.

Related:

For more articles related to Haruki Murakami's books and life:

Official Random House U.S. site for author Haruki Murakami
Japantimes.co.jp
Amazon.co.jp
Amazon.com author page on Haruki Murakami
Facebook page on author Haruki Murakami managed by Alfred A. Knopf/Vintage Books,
part of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (Random House)
Blog post at NewYorker.com by Roland Kelts "Lost in Translation"
Wikipedia

 
Japanese edition...

Long Beach

April 21, 2013

Takuma Sato, 36, is the first Japanese driver in history to win an IndyCar series race.

Sato, won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for the team of legendary racer A.J. Foyt.

This was the team's first victory in more than a decade.

Sato came close to winning his first IndyCar race at last year's Indianapolis 500 but when he tried to pass Dario Franchitti on the final lap he spun out. For the full story click here. 

By Bridget O'Donnell, Shanghaiist.com

A Chinese citizen is 3rd victim 

The Chinese consulate in New York confirmed today that a Chinese citizen was killed in yesterday's Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three and injured more than 100.

The victim was a Boston University grad student.

The student was one of three friends watching the Marathon near the finish line.

Earlier, both the consulate and BU declined to release the student's name, saying they were awaiting permission from her family members.

That student has now been identified as Lü Lingzi (pictured) who was pursuing a grad degree at BU in Mathematics and Statistics.

Lü worked as a manager assistant with Deloitte Consulting in Beijing, before moving to Boston.

Lü was with her friend Zhou Danling watching the marathon at the finish line.

A graduate of Wuhan university now studying actuarial science at BU, Zhou is said to have woken up from her coma, but remains unable to speak.

Chinese netizens have flocked to Lü's Weibo page, leaving thousands of condolence messages. Her final post was a picture of her "wonderful breakfast" before the marathon.

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Boston.com's senior producer Steve Silva's...

Our AAJA-LA.org board has a great slate of programs this year. Don't miss this event this Sunday April 21 - but hurry! RSVP by April 18 on Eventbrite.

Presented by Asian American Journalists Association – Los Angeles chapter, in partnership with KPCC, Southern California Public Radio  

When: 10:00 a.m. to noon Sun April 21, 2013

Where: Crawford Family Forum at KPCC, 474 S. Raymond Avenue, Pasadena

LIMITED SEATING + RSVP required by Thursday, April 18 on Eventbrite

What: Please join us for a session for community groups to learn how to pitch stories to the media and to get news covered.

Meet with journalists and trainers in print, broadcast, online media and public relations.

Step by step, how does the press select stories to cover?

What’s a pitch, and what kind of pitches catch the attention of decision-makers?

How do you make a local story appeal to national media?

How can you help journalists gain access to and understand diverse communities, diverse issues?

The workshop will include specific examples, case studies as well as allow participants to break into small groups, with a trainer guiding a conversation in each group.

Attendees may want to bring specific ideas and issues to brainstorm within your group and with our speakers.

SPEAKERS:

- Ashley Dunn, Los Angeles Times

- Jay Eckstein, KABC Channel 7 

- Oscar Garza, KPCC

- Rachanee Srisavasdi, VENG Group 

Moderator: Anh Do, Los Angeles Times

FAQs

Do I have to bring my...

April 14, 2012

New York

Yankees 3, Orioles 0

Photo: New York Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda 

It's baseball season and it couldn't be sweeter with 38 year old Hiroki Kuroda's five-hit shutout. Kuroda is a New York Yankees pitcher. 

The New York Daily News reports that was just part of tonight's story.

27 year old Wei-Yin Chen from Taiwan, a left-handed pitcher for the Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles matched Kuroda zero for zero over the first four innings tonight.

Read more here.  

Go catch a screening of "42" the new movie about baseball great Jackie Robinson which took top box office honors this weekend. Just released in theaters nationwide the movie stars Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson, and Harrison Ford as the Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey. 

Photo: Baltimore Orioles Pitcher Wei-Yin Chen

For the full story about the New York Yankees vs the Baltimore Orioles game tonight click here.