Japanese eBooks

[jron]

I was trying to get an eBook reader for a sick Japanese friend and in doing so I saw that Kindle was not available there yet. So that makes me wonder *why* and it makes me worry about general ebook availability (I can easily see J publishers being pissy about exactly this sort of thing). I can get an iPad or android pad of some kind.. But will there be books available for it?

Anyone have experience with Japanese eBooks?

My friend is Japanese and so a J reader and J language books are required.

Thanks,
john

[Tatsuo]

Just use a smart phone / iPad and go with the app of a big Japanese bookstore. You can buy and read the books with the apps and there are (almost) no limits when it comes to books / magazines / newspapers etc.

http://bookwebplus.jp/


If one really likes books and prefers colors that are similar to real books this one might work:

http://www.sony.jp/reader/lineup/

Starting at １万円 pretty cheap and easy to buy books etc. But then compared to the iPad a joke and just something for people that just want to read / study.

[jron]

Thanks Tatsuo.

I will look into those links.. I was just looking for a present and iPads are bit expensive compare to something like a Kindle.. :-P

I know I can use an iPad or an Android tablet to read books but my main concern was to know if Japan has made the leap into generally making eBooks available at all.. :-P They can be a little slow on some techs and I just wanted to make sure eBooks wasn't one of them since Amazon has not made the Kindle available there yet and so I had to wonder why..

[dipta]

I guess you already bought something for your friend by now, but otherwise you could try searching the web for 電子書籍リーダー.
Sony has a pocket edition for under 1 man which seems good although with no wifi or internet connection.
However, if you read some reviews, the best ereaders still seem to be the Kindle and Nook.

Actually, I was looking to buy the new Nook with GlowLight myself, but unfortunately it isn't sold in Japan (yet? and that I know of) and since I'm not from US...
Anyway, Amazon seems to be selling Nook the Simple Touch (e-ink) for around 14.000y.
The menus on that one are probably all in English, but I hear it supports Japanese ebooks.

Japanese ebooks can be bought on many online bookstores like booklive.jp.
Hope it helps!

[jron]

I'll just get her an android tablet of some kind and put some ebook apps on it then.
I was mainly worried as to why would Kindle not be available in Japan..
If it's because the J publishing companies are idiots then it would be pointless..
But this doesn't seem to be the case so I'll go ahead and get something..

[twelvedown]

Is your friend so incapacitated she can't turn pages?
Perhaps it's her time.
Seriously.
Against me strident wishes someone bought me a kindle recently... "Oh..you'll learn to love it!!" After I found I could buy neither "The roads to Sato" Or " The Seto Sea" it was hurled into a bottom draw. Who needs those things? They are just utter crap. Buy her something useful like an orange or something.

[dipta]

^Seriously? I know oranges don't come cheap around here, but I still would love to get one!

Just because you can't find an ebook on Amazon it doesn't mean you can't find it online somewhere...
Sure, not every book in the planet exists in ebook, but there are a lot of dedicated forums with people who scan their own books, convert and share online...
It's also pretty useful for college work, you don't need to print thesis and other stuff to be able to read them anywhere, can take a bunch of books with you for a flight, for instance, and just read whatever you feel like at the time without carrying the volumes around...

Geez, perhaps ereaders aren't for people who don't like to read, but isn't it like saying iPods are crap because you can't find X song on iTunes?

[jron]

Is your friend so incapacitated she can't turn pages?
Perhaps it's her time.
Seriously.


Seriously.. F*ck You...
And yes.. After her chemo treatments she can barely even lift a book for a few days..
She doesn't have the ability to go to a bookstore for usually weeks (or longer) at a stretch and I thought that being able to buy them online and DL them would help her out.

btw, she has Stage IV cancer and probably is NOT going to survive it....
So again F*ck you.

[twelvedown]

Geez, perhaps ereaders aren't for people who don't like to read, but isn't it like saying iPods are crap because you can't find X song on iTunes?

The bulk of people with kindles are people who are not readers but thought that a dumb gadget might help them become one.
Goddamn stupid.

If you like eating by electric candles then ebooks are for you.
I really gave it a good shot. I went so far as to buy a book on one (a travel guide) and that really blew the whole idea to hell.


Not being able to find 'The Roads to Sata' on Kindle, let alone 'Looking for the Lost' and 'The Seto Sea' is the literary equivalent of
the Srebrenica Massacre. Just a little massacre... hardly anyone will notice or care... right?

n.b.. I know that some people really need kindles and such. Academics and all. Do as you please. People who read novels on them... ____..just go to the frikkin library .

[twelvedown]

Seriously.. F*ck You...
And yes.. After her chemo treatments she can barely even lift a book for a few days..
She doesn't have the ability to go to a bookstore for usually weeks (or longer) at a stretch and I thought that being able to buy them online and DL them would help her out.

btw, she has Stage IV cancer and probably is NOT going to survive it....
So again F*ck you.

That's really bad. i apologies for my heartless words. But I suggest that such works as 'Cannery Row' are even lighter then a kindle.
Like....It takes ages to figure out how to get them to work properly anyway so you shouldn't waste her time. Just buy her 'Blood Meridian' 'Sometimes a Great Notion' and 'Matterhorn' because they are the best three books ever written.
Again, my apologies but I am sure you friend is better soon.
You should hope for the best son.

[jron]

That's really bad. i apologies for my heartless words. But I suggest that such works as 'Cannery Row' are even lighter then a kindle.
Like....It takes ages to figure out how to get them to work properly anyway so you shouldn't waste her time. Just buy her 'Blood Meridian' 'Sometimes a Great Notion' and 'Matterhorn' because they are the best three books ever written.
Again, my apologies but I am sure you friend is better soon.
You should hope for the best son.

Apology accepted.. no worries.

She loves to read and I just wanted to make it easier for her (if possible). Even when she's feeling stronger its dangerous for her to be in a public place because of her white blood count being trashed by the chemo.. She's Japanese so it needs to be books in J, not English. I just worried about the general availability of J eBooks (never having bothered to look into the issue before) since the amazon readers weren't available there. I figured it was 1 of 2 reasons. 1. reader device not supporting J, or 2. a wide selection of eBooks not being available in J.. If the latter, then any device for reading eBooks would be pointless. If the former.. dayum, just buy something else then.. :-P

[Agitator]

If it's because the J publishing companies are idiots then it would be pointless..

Well, they are idiots and they'd rather stick to their own a$$-backward proprietary systems. But what else is new in the Land of the Declining Fun?

Anyway, go with the other advice in the thread. I wish your friend the best.

Sympathetically,
A.