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Bookbinding
First, you need to know what Rhino is in Japanese. It’s Sai with the kanji being 犀. River in Japanese is kawa with the corresponding kanji being three vertical lines: 川. Together Sai and Kawa is pronounced Saigawa. The Saigawa is one of the two major rivers running through Kanazawa (the other being the Asanogawa which means Shallow River, and it is.)
That means the Saigawa can be translated as Rhino River. The Rhino River I made is an A6-size, 120-page, link stitch-bound blank notebook. In order to push my personal envelope in the bookbinding trade, I made a collage of people, drew a rhinoceros, and cut out photos of various other activities: books, museums, a cow, and a painting of a group of women harvesting what appears to be wheat.
Fiction
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Episodes
Sunday Nov 04, 2018
Sunday Nov 04, 2018
I’m making an edition of 15 for my Japanese notes/guide book called Hunting Kanazawa. It includes phrases that tourists who don’t speak Japanese might need while in a Japanese-speaking area of the world. Phrases like “Where is my hotel?” and “How much is this?” and more useful questions like “How old is this?” It comes in English, transliteration, and Japanese so if you find yourself not being understood by speaking either Japanese or English, you can show the question to the target of your inquiries. Useful. Convenient!
I’m also working on two other audio endeavors. First is a video of me making The Merchant of Venus and Other Stories. It is definitely not a how-to video; never do as I do, always do as I say (they are often complete opposites). It will show the book being made from writing it to adding the covers. There will be narration, so be forewarned, eh?
The second is an audio book of one of the stories from The Merchant of Venus and Other Stories: In A Quiet Little Bar On The Coast. It will have visuals not necessarily related to the story and the occasional sound effect when called for. When finished, I may post it here first. An exclusive for You Wonderful Folks. Then on YouTube for everyone else.
Remember: The Merchant of Venus and Other Stories is available on Apple Books, Amazon, Nook, Scribd and Kobo for your reading pleasure. If you would like a real book bound by me, the author, slip me an email and we can discuss the details.
email: tedorigawa.bookmakers@gmail.com
YouTube as Tedorigawa Bookmakers
Facebook as Tedorigawa
Instagram as Bookbinder 2015
Wednesday Oct 24, 2018
Wednesday Oct 24, 2018
I have a book of six short stories for sale called The Merchant of Venus & Other Stories. It is available at Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo. It will soon be available at the 800 lbs gorilla in the bookosphere, too, I assume.
Two of the short stories are available at those sites for free. You can check out two of the stories: The Merchant of Venus and Monkey, Dick, and I before buying the book. Perfect for gift giving as well!
I talk about both The Merchant of Venus and Monkey, Dick, and I on my YouTube video TDBG Sales Plan. Along with plans for the next two or three books.
All books mentioned are available as Real Books i.e. made of paper and backcloth and bound by me, a bookbinder!
email at: tedorigawa.bookmakers@gmail.com
YouTube as Tedorigawa Bookmakers
Facebook as Tedorigawa
Instagram as Bookbinder 2015
Sunday Oct 21, 2018
Sunday Oct 21, 2018
Here are five Ninja Schedules for 2019 that include a ninja on random pages. Also included are calendars both yearly, and monthly. With Japanese holidays included. There are, obviously, three made from kimono or hakama cloth and two made from book cloth (pale white & red.)
I made the Book Cloth out of the kimono and hakama by backing it with calligraphy paper and adding copious amounts of glue. And an iron. And waiting. I have more kimono book cloth waiting for Hungry Kanazawa, another book of mine for tourists. It includes a schedule, language hints, and reviews of restaurants I like.
2019 will be the Year of Frustration for calendar makers. First, the current emperor is scheduled to retire in May. The new emperor will begin the same day. However, the current emperor’s birthday is in December; after he retires, it will no longer be a holiday. The new emperor’s birthday is in February. Since he will become emperor in May, his 2019 birthday will not be a holiday. In 2020, the new emperor’s birthday (in February) will be a holiday. However, the government is thinking of making the day of the abdication and acension to the throne a holiday. This will give the fine people of Japan a 10-day holiday in April/May. The longest ever. Calendar makers are gnashing their teeth: An extra holiday or no?
This book, Stealing November, is nearly complete. The main characters are in mid-escape and, with luck, will escape. It has three basic plots and four main characters. The three plots are: exploring the Congo, finding a unique and old book, the relationship between the main character and his girlfriend/wife (same person, different times). The four characters are: Hairball, Sakombi, Kurt Kurtz (an alias), and Hairball's girlfriend/wife who has a name but it might very well change in the next draft.
Check other facets of myself on Facebook, Instagram, andYouTube
email: tedorigawa.bookmakers@gmail.com
Also, in progess, an Instagram page.
Monday Oct 15, 2018
Monday Oct 15, 2018
Nearly two months since the last episode. Way too long for me. How about you? Here is what I’ve been doing in the two months since... sweating. As most of the world, Japan has been hot. Hot, hot. Record high temperatures in many places. However, I was not completely idle, sitting in front of an air conditioner in a crowded coffee shop, no, no.
I made a video (available on, of course YouTube, at https://youtu.be/e1P56sDyd8w). I made five small schedule books with information about where to eat here in Kanazawa. I wrote three-quarters of a novel which I will talked to you about in Episode 179 (https://tedorigawabookmakers.podbean.com/e/ep-179-planning-samples/). And I started my first science fiction novel which has no name as of yet. It is geared to be my NaNoWriMo novel (https://nanowrimo.org). In other words, I hope to finish it.
Friday Jul 20, 2018
Friday Jul 20, 2018
I apologize for not having the ebook up this week. I have many excuses but the main one is, I don’t have an excuse; it should’ve been up by now. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
I’m also making a video of me making mistakes making a 2019 schedule book with lots of Ninja 忍者 in it. I made it three times and, like many things, the third time was the charm. Once I have it cased in and perfected (to my way of thinking, anyway) I will let you know how to get your own ~ free to the first five ~ 2019 schedule complete with, I hope, covers.
tedorigawabookmakers.podbean.com
tedorigawa.bookmakers@gmail.com
Friday Jul 13, 2018
Friday Jul 13, 2018
Depending on how my account works with iBooks, I will have a free short story for you all soon, I hope. If I can remember my password. The story is called In A Quiet Little Bar On The Coast and it deals with a salesman who takes a customer for a ride through time. I hope I can upload it to iBooks soon.
If I manage to upload it, I will upload five more free short stories before uploading and selling all six as an iBook I’m titling: The Merchant of Venus and Other Stories in the near future. Again, I hope.
On the other hand, I cased in three novels over the last week. The three are books I have spoken about before, probably at some length: Calvado, The Priests of Hiroshima, and The Venetian Slime Woman. They are, of course, for sale but not as of yet up on iBooks. Once I figure out this new-fangled ebook epub format, they will be up.
If you want a Real Book®? you can email me at:
tedorigawa.bookmakers@gmail.com
and request one. Ah, yes, but at what price, eh? A handmade book bound by the author of that book? Not $0.99, that’s for sure. But for you, my loyal listener? Not too expensive. No need to sell the house, ya know? Stay tuned.
tedorigawabookmakers.podbean.com
tedorigawa.bookmakers@gmail.com
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
youtube.com/tedorigawabookmakers
tedorigawa.bookmakers@gmail.com
I cased in two books, my novel Feeding Vicki’s Corpse, and gave them to the namesakes of the main character and one of the dead bodies. One major mistake on one of the books, but not something a non-bookbinder will notice right away. I hope.
I also printed out a 2019 (with a 2020 yearly calendar) schedule. It’s a sample that I hope the customer will like and buy one or a dozen. It is, as I type this, not finished yet. All that needs to be finished is the coptic sewing.
A Youtube video of myself doing something is up on, appropriately, 
YouTube at youtube.com/tedorigawabookmakers. I hope. One is titled Feeding Vicki’s Corpse - I talk about the plot, again, while showing you the binding in progress. The other one is titled Sewing Vicki- which is just me sewing the textbloc up. Please check them out.
Thursday Jun 28, 2018
Thursday Jun 28, 2018
Today, this very day, I punched holes, sewed, glued mull, the spine paper piece, and headbands on my edition of two of Feeding Vicki’s Corpse. Next? Casing the mothers in. One is being sent to a friend and the same one has two small tears in the sewing section of on signature. I hope, first, he doesn’t notice it and, second, it isn’t noticeable. Why did I tear holes in the holes? Anxious to get it done; I was working too fast. I must, as Aldus Manutius said, hasten slowly.
Besides the two Feeding Vicki’s Corpse novels, I also punched holes in three more novels. I’ve talked about them before but I will list the three here so you can feel comforted that they do indeed exist: Calvado, The Priests of Hiroshima, and The Venetian Slime Woman. They 
are all part of the Calvado Pentalogy, of course, parts two, three, and five. They have all been edited (by me) and require a second pair or more of eyes to check for spelling and other errors.
Monday Jun 18, 2018
Monday Jun 18, 2018
I’m getting back to binding soon after quite a few podcasts about writing novels and loading them on to InDesign. I have five novesl to bind including two copies of Feeding Vicki’s Corpse which I plan to give to friends. The current plan is to sew all five books with a link stitch. Then glue on the mull, the paper spin bit, and headbands. After that I will case in Feeding Vicki’s Corpse first, then the other three novels. Also part of the current plan is to do them in the next week or so. The best laid plans, of course, and all that. Here we have the five textblocks lined up with pencil marks to indicate where I should punch the holes for sewing.
Here are the five books. The one with my picture is the back cover of Feeding Vicki’s Corpse which you can see the front cover of directly below it. To the left of Feeding Vicki’s Corpse is Book Five of the Calvado Pentalogy The Venetian Slime Woman and to the right is Book Two of the Calvado Pentalogy: Calvado. Above Calvado is Book Three of the Calvado Pentalogy: The Priests of Hiroshima.
Simultaneously, I will continue to make my third edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and continue to write Stealing November, which I have talked about in the previous two podcasts.
Want to know my far-in-the-future plan? To make my second edition of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne. I mean, with what I have learned with InDesign in the last year, I feel I can make a better edition of the eight volume book than the one I made before.
Contact: tedorigawa.bookmakers@gmail.com
Wednesday Jun 13, 2018
Wednesday Jun 13, 2018
In the last week I printed out one copy of Feeding Vicki’s Corpse and may require two more copies. I plan to give them to friends whose names have been attached to fictional characters in the novel. It is ready to be bound, now, along with Calvado, The Priests of Hiroshima, The Venetian Slime Woman, and, perhaps, another edition of Frankenstein. Frankenstein may also end up as an ebook.
An acquaintance has asked to see a copy of a diary I made for 2018. She may want to buy one for 2019. So, to please her and to have samples of my work, I will be making two samples: one coptic and one encased, like a normal book.
And finally, I made a new cover for Stealing November which used to be called Eating November’s Ruins but that title, while random, didn’t fit the context of the novel, which is more attuned to theft than consumption.
The older version was lighter and the red & yellow band was horizontal while this one more closely matches the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s flag minus the yellow star. Which one do you like? Which one is more... inticing?
