News of a new book set in the contemporary city. The Kindle version on amazon japan has a discount for ¥988. Here’s the press release, which is a model of marketing. We’ll carry a review of the book later in the year…

Lovesic in Kyoto

Seen through the lens of Buddhist wisdom, Lovesic in Kyoto is a captivating journey through spirit, language, musicianship, and the beauty and contradictions of modern-day Japan. From racing through New York City subways to riding his bicycle past kimono-clad maiko in Kyoto, author/expatriate Jay Crystall shares the colorful, twisting path that led him to Japan. Told with wit and candor and backlit by myriad lessons, hilarious faux pas, and the slippery slope of self-discovery, he begins to unfold a lifelong dream of impacting culture. 

Seattle, WA – Lovesic in Kyoto: Building Understanding Between the United States and Japan – Authors Jay Crystall and Catherine Lenox announce publication of their newest book, Lovesic in Kyoto. Rated number one in its category on Amazon.com, the book shares real life experiences of the Japanese people and their culture and dispels myths Westerners may carry about them as seen through the eyes of an expatriate from the U.S. Since author Jay Crystall hasn’t been in Japan long, he sees it with fresh, perceptive and often hilarious eyes. He’s foraged into a foreign land of his own volition, braved purchase of an English school, created a curriculum based on cultural exploration, real life role-play and music, and started a psychedelic rock band with musical elements drawn from all corners of the globe. He’s done that in seven short years, something that takes many people a lifetime to do if they are even brave enough to try it. With wit and candor, he shares these experiences and perceptions about it in the book. How authors Jay Crystall and Catherine Lenox met, decided to write the book, and proceeded to create it has been its own delightful story, too.

In April 2014, Catherine went to an art show opening at a new contemporary art gallery while visiting Kyoto, Japan from Seattle, Washington. As she’d swept through the room admiring abstract LED sculptures, mirrors, and landscape photos, she’d noticed a guy who looked noticeably out of place in that sea of Japanese artists and friends. Standing in one of the concrete cube rooms in the stark white gallery, a good head taller and broader than most of the other people there, he’d grinned ear-to-ear and gestured larger than life. His smile had literally filled the room. Curious how he happened to be there, she’d bounded enthusiastically up to him and introduced herself. Catherine and Jay immediately recognized each other as friends with a common appreciation of Japan and friended each other on Facebook.  Neither of them knew at the time that Jay’s Buddhist practice, founded in the concept of being in rhythm with the universe and with what he calls “Original Good,” was already at work toward writing Lovesic in Kyoto. The essence and meaning of Original Good, a phrase Jay had coined 20 years ago for a song, is based on the Buddhist concept of seeing the essential goodness and potential in ourselves and others. If we stay true to it, see it and feel it, and consciously exert ourselves to draw out the innate goodness in everything around us and in us, we connect directly to a divine force for good. Wonderful things happen. The book, Lovesic in Kyoto, is an outgrowth of that philosophy.

Over the past four years, Jay and Catherine have developed a solid virtual friendship, talking over Facebook chat, cell phones, from his school to her office, over 5,000 miles and from a huge ocean of distance away to craft their book. The time zone difference has been tricky. Jay’s been perky and energetic while talking with Catherine during the day from his school while she’s been bleary-eyed from her side of the world late at night. She’s been energized and awake while he, bleary-eyed, has talked with her during his late hours. They’ve both lost a lot of sleep and probably aged more than a bit in the process. But they’ve also been each other’s cheerleaders during the challenges and championed each other’s writing and insights. They’ve been each other’s confidants when life got tough. They’ve celebrated each other’s successes. They’ve been weary but they’ve kept going. Revision after revision has flown through the airways back and forth. Recordings of music and chat have passed incessantly through their computers. Incomplete and incorrect transcriptions from a transcription service have given them both more than a few puzzles and giggles. All this between two people who have only truly met each other in person once. It’s been quite an adventure.

Thousands of hours later, they have created a work that is a testament to their mutual admiration of and fascination with Japan and a “love song” to how experiencing Japan has made them both better people. They’ve grown much through the experience and one of the big gifts of the process is they’ve garnered a great friendship and created a work they both feel represents their fondness for Japan. Read Lovesic in Kyoto. Discover the vibrant, sometimes quirky, new Kyoto as seen through the eyes of a recently landed expatriate.