June Kinoshita
While Sean is working like crazy from his base in Kobe to clean up, update and format the Digital Edition of Gateway to Japan, I'd like to tell you a bit about who "we" are. I am June Kinoshita, one of the original co-authors of Gateway to Japan. I've been living in the Boston area since 1990, bringing up two daughters (now in college) and enjoying a career in biomedical nonprofits. I still love and follow what's going on in Japan, but lacking opportunities to visit frequently, I've not been in a position to update the book.
So I feel incredibly fortunate to have been introduced to Sean Landis, a 2011 graduate in Japanese, and Government and Politics from the University of Maryland (where my older daughter happens to be; Go Terps!!). Sean has excellent language skills, software coding chops, a terrific design sense, and, most importantly, a passion for Japan. He lived in Hokkaido for 3 years and currently resides in Kobe (where he actually lived and studied in high school and university as an exchange student). He is done a fantastic job bringing Gateway up to date. This includes cleaning up the digital files, which were optically scanned from the printed third edition because Kodansha International at some point destroyed the digital files without alerting me. (Who destroys digital files? As though they take up so much space in the warehouse. Perhaps these types of business practices help to explain why KI did not survive.)
Gateway to Japan was a hypertext before hypertext existed. Our extensive cross-references and system of all-caps for the names of major historical and cultural personalities were our print-era version of hyperlinks. Now technology has caught up with that original vision. Digital publishing platforms, websites and social media have made this project feasible.
Sean Landis
Sean and I are equal partners in publishing the digital edition of Gateway to Japan. We share a dream of not only making the contents of Gateway available and useful to a new generation of travelers, but also of creating a new paradigm for travel guides in the 21st century. The digital edition is more than an e-Book. It is the focal point for a community to converse, exchange information, and share their interest in Japan in ways that mirror the dynamic country that has captured the hearts and minds of generations of travelers. We anticipate publishing digital Gateway in 2016, but this blog launches now. Let the conversations begin!
We can be reached at gatewaytojapanguide@gmail.com.
