The name ‘Black Ship’ was the name given to Admiral Perry’s vessel that arrived in Japan in 1853. ‘Black’ refers to the ship’s color and the black smoke from its coal burning power. It became the symbol of the end of Japan’s isolation from world trade, as Amazon is now doing with its Kindle.
This week, angered Japanese publishers are calling Amazon’s Kindle invasion ‘the black ship of publishing’. To start off its invasion, Amazon has included a Japan born Pan Am stewardess, Fumiko Takahashi, in the attack against her fellow countrymen’s publishing empire.
Ms. Takahashi has had 12 of her books published by the traditional Japanese system, one of her publishers was the largest in Japan; Kodansha Publishing. However, ‘I was a Pan Am Princess of the Sky’ will not be given to Japanese publishers, even in its Japanese language translation.
When asked if she considers herself disloyal to her countryman’s publishers, Ms. Takahashi said, “If business people use fair tactics to promote their products, then I see no reason not to use Amazon Kindle for my book. After all, Japan invaded America several times with Sony products, now it’s Amazon’s turn, that’s all. I’m sure Japan will stay with the competition with their ‘Kobo’ e-reader.”
Amazon said that it will sell a Japanese-language version of Kindle next month. as it looks to break into the largely untapped Japanese e-book market. Kindle ‘Paperwhite’ became available for pre-order on Wednesday. It will start shipping it on November 19. A Japanese-capable Kindle app will be available for computers, tablets and smartphones this week, the company said.
Ms. Takahashi’s ‘I was a Pan Am Princess of the Sky is also available from USA Amazon as well as iTunes and Barnes &Noble.
Join her on FACEBOOK: Click here
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