Sunmark Publishing Rights Highlights
and NEWS Mail--April 2018 Issue

Hello, I’m Taku-bou, a staff member in Sunmark’s Editorial Department.

 

I’m a person who isn’t good at some things, especially getting up early in the morning. Every time I tried to overcome this weakness, the challenge just ended in failure.

 

Recently, following the advice one of my friends gave me, I’ve started practicing what’s called “caffeine control.” Have you ever heard of it?

Basically, as far as I’ve checked, it means being careful every day not to take in too much caffeine from such things as coffee, tea and chocolate. After reading some books about it, what I’m specifically trying these days is not to drink or eat even a bit of them after 2:00 p.m. After that time, I choose herb tea instead of coffee.

After a week of doing this, I’ve already begun feeling much better than before, especially in the morning hours. I rarely feel like “Oh…I want to sleep more” when I wake up.

I’m surprised at the change I’ve experienced in this short term, and now I realize how directly our body reacts to what we take into it.

My challenge continues, so please let me know if you have any recommendation for herb teas or caffeine-free diets.

If you have any questions or inquiries about this NEWS Mail, please contact Ms. Shino Kobayashi, Rights Manager (rights@sunmark.co.jp).

Topics of the Month

We’re attending the forthcoming London Book Fair 2018.

Since we had productive meetings with publishers in London and nearby EU countries at last year’s London Book Fair, we decided to visit again this year with three of our staff members. Our editor-in-chief will attend the fair with us for the first time. We’re looking forward to being introduced to exciting new candidates for our future translation works, and in the meantime we’d love to introduce our latest bestsellers to them. If any of you are interested in meeting us in London, please do let us know!

An article on Even the Stiffest People Can Do the Splits ran in the New York Times on February 23rd, and you can see it here:

The book quickly ranked #1 in “Yoga & Stretching” at Amazon.com after this great New York Times review was published, and it still was in that position as of February 28th.

 

Hot Titles

Eating Habits That Improve Blood Circulation

by Akiyoshi Horie

ISBN978-4-7631-3675-6 C0036

223 pages / January 2018 / 1,300 yen (w/o tax)

Rethink your diet to improve the quality and quantity of blood circulation!

Description

Blood circulation is the foundation of human health.

Many people have health conditions that are a result of poor circulation.

 

In traditional Chinese medicine, the term “blood” refers to a general concept that includes things like nutrition and hormones. When you have a low amount of blood, your nutrition and hormonal count are also low, meaning the quality of your blood is low as a whole. With unhealthy blood comes poor circulation.

 

But it’ll be okay!

 

The quality and amount of our blood is influenced by what we eat. In other words, our blood can only be made from what we eat. This means if we change our eating habits, we can easily improve our circulation. What and how should we eat in order to improve circulation and live happy, healthy lives?

 

The author of the best-selling Good Blood Flow Can Resolve Everything, and a 4th-generation traditional Chinese medicine specialist who works at the more than 90-year-old pharmacy on the road to Izumo Temple, provides clear and easy explanations about how to achieve this.

From the table of contents

Chapter 1            Improving circulation helps your heart and body work better

Chapter 2            A one-week dinner fast will clean your stomach and improve circulation

Chapter 3            How bowel movements affect your circulation

Chapter 4            What ingredients to choose, and how to eat to avoid contaminating the blood

Chapter 5            Make use of seasonal changes to support circulation

Chapter 6            Eating is living

From the editor "Kuro"

The new book from the author of the best-selling Good Blood Flow Can Resolve Everything is finally here! His second book tackles the topic of food and what we should be eating in order to improve our circulation. Many think that changing the way you eat means giving up foods you love, exercising restraint, or taking supplements, but everything in this book is much simpler than that! I’ve also started trying out his methods myself.

Author:

Akiyoshi Horie

Herbal medicine specialist / Infertility counselor / Head of Horie Pharmacy Ltd. / Representative director of the Japan Kampo Yakuzen Association.

Born in Izumo, Japan, in 1974, Akiyoshi Horie is a 4th-generation traditional Chinese medicine specialist who works at the more than 90-year-old pharmacy on the road to Izumo Temple. After graduating with a pharmaceutical degree, he became attracted to the treatment methods of traditional Chinese medicine and how they differ from the symptomatic approach of Western medicine, changing his path. While studying in China, he was surprised to learn that a friend struggling with infertility had regained fertility after using Chinese medicinal remedies he prescribed. This encouraged him to begin specializing in Chinese medicine within his own gynecology practice.

 

Not only does he try to remedy general health issues, he also strives to improve the way our mind operates. His approach consists of a synthesis of Western medicine, Chinese medicine and psychology, with a focus on blood flow. The approach works, having brought him great success as he’s dealt with more than 50,000 cases including those related to infertility, depression, dieting and autonomic ataxia.                                      

                                              

Since his humble beginnings in his hometown of Shimane, he has gotten to a point of being solidly booked up to a month in advance, with many consultation requests coming from overseas as well. Some 90% of his patients are those who went to general hospitals for infertility treatment with little to no success. Since 2009, more than 1,000 of his patients have reported successful pregnancies.             

 

Having been inaugurated as a representative of the board of directors for the Japan Association of Chinese Medicine, he continues to strive to spread knowledge about Chinese medicine and to change lives. His book about avoiding illness by improving blood circulation, Good Blood Flow Can Resolve Everything (Sunmark), has sold more than 200,000 copies domestically.

How to Quickly Build Muscles Where You Want Them

by Takashi Okada

ISBN978-4-7631-3622-0 C2075

173 pages / December 2017 / 1,300 yen (w/o tax)

The latest book from TV star “Bazooka” Okada.
Everything you need to know about muscle training is here.

Description

I got into muscle training by referring to information on the Internet but experienced no changes to my body.

 

Going to a fitness gym helped you lose weight, but missing some days brought the weight right back?

 

You want big shoulders, but they aren’t getting any bigger?

 

Working the same muscle exercises over and over can be either 0% or 100% effective. A lack of knowledge and technique can be a huge waste of time and effort.

Doing muscle training without the information in this book puts you at a disadvantage. Okada’s knowledge of anatomy, muscle physiology and physical therapy has helped train top athletes and others of all ages.

 

If you’re a beginner, you can start out with good form. But even if you’re experienced, you’ll be able to feel the difference between right and wrong and get more results from your training.

 

The benefits of Takashi Okada’s techniques speak for themselves, and it takes only 5 minutes in your own home, without any equipment. Using the QR code provided, you can watch videos to confirm your technique and quickly acquire your ideal body.

From the table of contents

Chapter 1            You need technique to get fast results

Chapter 2            How to quickly fill out your muscles

Chapter 3            Must-know muscle basics

Chapter 4            How to shave off body fat

From the editor "Shin"

Having played sports continuously since my school days, and having edited numerous books about training, I thought I had at least basic knowledge of muscle training. That confidence was soon lost after I starting collecting data for this book. I was constantly shocked by what I didn’t know and what I hadn’t been doing properly. Then, after one month of trying the training methods introduced in this book, my favorite jacket felt tight due to a change in my upper-body size. It’s true that being thin from the beginning may have made such a transformation easy for me, but I was ecstatic to realize that 5 minutes a day can have an effect even on somebody in their mid-40s.

Author:

Takashi Okada

Takashi Okada was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, in 1980. He is a physiotherapist, an associate professor at Nippon Sport Science University, and the head of physical training in the All Japan Judo Federation. He is also a muscle critic.

 

He graduated from Nippon Sport Science University’s Graduate School of Physical Education, then received all necessary credits for a doctorate from the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Tokyo but left before graduating.

 

As the physical trainer of the All Japan Judo Federation national men’s team, he helped them receive medals in the Rio Olympics. While currently teaching at a university, he also does lectures, and under the nickname of “Bazooka” Okada takes part as a muscle critic in magazine articles and on TV shows about training, bodybuilding, health and dieting. As a bodybuilder, he won the 2016 Japan Bodybuilding and Fitness Championship for adults. His other books include Burn Fat With High-Intensity Interval Training (Sunmark) and Get Abs in 2 Weeks — 4-minute Drills for Pesky Muscles (Achievement Publishing).