I’m happy to report that Kindle Nation citizens who read Japanese will soon be able to read my book The Complete User’s Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle 2 in a Japanese translation.
Both Amazon.co.jp and my Japanese publisher, Tokyo-based Nikkei Business Publications, have begun accepting pre-orders for the book’s Japanese translation, which will be released in a 240-page paperback May 20, 2010 at a retail price of 1,890 yen.
The Japanese edition, translated earlier this year by Dr. Akira Kurabone, combines material from both of my Kindle guides. Not surprisingly, its pre-orders are already outselling the English-language editions of several of my books that are available on Amazon’s Japan-based website. I am very grateful to Dr. Kurahone for his fine work on this project as well as to Mr. Kaori Shibayama of Tokyo’s The English Agency, my literary agent for the project.
Interested readers can pre-order the Japanese-language paperback either from Amazon.co.jp or from the publisher:
In addition to the paperback edition, Nikkei Business Publications will soon offer a free ebook excerpt of about 40 pages of the Japanese translation directly from its website. This excerpt will be compatible with other ebook reading environments, since the current Kindle models are not capable of rendering the Japanese alphabet.
Amazon has not disclosed specific plans or timetables for the launch of a Japanese language Kindle and a Japan-based Kindle store and reading environment, but there has been plenty of discussion of this inevitable development both here and among Japanese publishers. A Kindle-compatible edition of Dr. Kurabone’s translation of my book is anticipated when the Kindle platform is ready.