Publishing could be popularized?

Kiyotaka ISHIKAWA

The year 2012 might be the first year of self-publishing in the United States while it is called the first year of e-book history in Japan. Before the e-book prevails over the Internet, self-publishing meant a literary coterie magazine (Doujin-shi) or an expensive hobby for scholars and amateur writers, but that will be no longer so. Every writer can publish his or her works only at the cost of manuscripts if they are distributed on the Kindle e-book store which allows anyone to sell their books directly to all Kindle readers over the world. This sounds innovative but little chance to be a million seller; instead, book authors can meet a tiny demand for his story that would be too small to be captured by conventional paper publishing. 

Another Long Tale by Amazon

One reason why Amazon could have successfully introduced self-published e-books by obscure authors is that those books are so cheap compared to those produced by the big publishing house. It costs only 2.99 dollars and distribute 70 per cent of sales for self-published writers; Amazon said such books accounted for 30 of its top 100 sellers in October (TIME, issued December 10, 2012). Self-published titles now exceed 200,000 and still grow at a much higher pace than the printed does. Consequently, adding up all those little sales that the traditional houses missed out, it is estimated self-publishing blessed Amazon about 100 million dollars in revenue last year. 

How so many writers go solo

First, self-publishing before the Kindle was so expensive and a high possibility of no return for the considerable investment. An American amateur writer costed 1,800 dollars for her romance story by hiring a freelance editor and a cover artist, but she sold 20 or so copies, netting about 60 dollars. Second, every writer can get an access to the world largest e-book store that consists of tens of millions of Kindle readers. No concern that your work might be lost amongst the infinite market place full of similar self-publishers. The algorithms behind online book recommendations are so powerful to bring potential readers  based on other reader's book review if your books are worth writing an impression. 

The cost of self-publishing (or the role of publishing houses)

The more famous such self-publishers become and the more revenues they gain from the Kindle store, however, the more publishing affaires they have to devote their time which otherwise would be performed by the publishing houses. Producing yourself as a writer on your own requires various things; cover art, back matters, PR, oversea translation for foreign markets, pricing, and arranging all these matters together. Another problem in self-publishing is that all risk of publishing need to be treated by the writer himself. Once he get a contract from the publishing industry although it is very difficult, the publisher will share his risk of failure. Actually, the nine of the ten fails commercially but those loss could be covered by the only one hit, which is called the rule of thumb. Also, no matter which his works go hit or trash, his editor will prevent him from having legal troubles due to his carelessness against plagiarizing and offensive expressions. These models indicate that self-publishing has just found a niche market between indie writers and lovers and it is nothing like replacing the conventional roles of professional publishers. 

What ‘Big Data’ make difference in political campaigns?

Kiyotaka ISHIKAWA

Tomorrow is the vote day for Japan’s parliamentary election. This is why a couple of advertising vans are coming and going on the every major streets all the time, calling for supports with a speaker loudly. The mass advertisement seems still powerful in political campaigns at least for now that would be the last thing still remaining popularized while most of ads and media has been individualized along a variety of characteristics after an information revolution. However, this might be no longer so.

The information gap in the U.S. presidential election 

It was not only the campaign promise that gave Obama victory in the election, but also the aggressive information strategy which extracted every single tips about voter’s preference from massive personal databases, called ‘Big Data’, and utilized them into persuasive campaigns tailored along each voter’s taste in a various form of appeal. One example goes like this. If George Clooney was statistically proved fascinating amongst West Coast females ages 40 to 49, those women would be the most likely to hand over cash for a chance to have a dinner with Clooney - and Obama. 

The background of the information revolution in the U.S. campaign

A U.S. campaign manager said, ‘Politics was the goal but political instincts might not be the means. (TIME, Issued November 19, 2012).’  It might be surprising for such an exciting presidential election in America, but the poll has been conventionally around 60%, deteriorating over time. A common challenge for American political parties is how to get supports out of populations who shows indifference about politics. The individualized persuasive appeals through Big Data analysis is an efficient way in the country of huge territory and small density of population although it cost much for correcting data and hiring a number of analyzers, but it would be even cheaper than visiting door to door or buying ad for local papers or TVs in every state, not to mention about running advertising cars over the country. 

The common or deferent aspects in Japan’s political campaign

While Japan also suffers from political indifference especially among young-adult generations, approximately 70% on average over whole voters at the last parliamentary election, contrarily Japan still have advantages of mass advertisement due to a high concentration of populations in metropolitan areas and a high market shares of national newspapers and broadcast stations. This is partially why the mass advertising in Japan sounds imprinting rather than persuading, shouting the candidate’s name repeatedly from a mini-van with a large signboard writing its name and picture. 

An expected information revolution in Japan’s political campaign

However, the situation is gradually shifting digital in this country as well as America. This election will be the first one after twitter and other social network services has prevailed over the country, and many candidates have declared their political stances and replied voters for their supports and oppositions. It is said that the Japanese shows less reluctance against anonymous activities on the Internet, so now would be the time for politicians to call for a vote not from windows of a car but from a window of a display. 

Why Do We Have to Learn the Liberal Arts?

Kiyotaka ISHIKAWA

Students and teachers in Kyoto University face a radical reform in the curriculum of general education which has been criticized that the liberal arts are no more than credit makers since the “yutori” education—devoting longer time for moral education and career development at the expense of fundamental subjects such as language and science, prevailed in high school education schemes and more and more university students started to graduate only with disciplines they majored, or some with nothing. 

Enthusiastic and systematic education or independent and voluntary attitude

The university’s response to such a situation is to reorganize the general education system into a more effective and productive scheme in which students can discover clear academic values and manage their own academic or career goals through learning the liberal arts. In other words, the college authorities try to establish a new curriculum and syllabuses with order and purpose. However, as the reform proposal points out, some subjects would be selected out of the curriculum for abolition due to the limit of supervision and that all lecturers would be controlled under subject requirements, which are concerned  to result in the university education with less diversity and academic neutrality. 

For a nice-looking transcript and meta-academic training

Kyoto university students, on the one hand, spend their undergraduate for taking easy subjects, but on the other hand most of students in typical western universities study hard to take better grades for a perfect transcript. An academic history, e.g., grade point average (GPA), is one of the most important element in job hunting amongst western society, so students try to make a parade of the highest grade on their transcripts. Moreover, the liberal arts are good opportunity to sharpen up one’s critical thinking and discussion skills for his or her following career no matter which is proceeding into further study or starting business. Those subjects consist not only of lectures but also of tutorial or discussion terms that provide students with conventional argument topics regarding  politics, cultural diversity, gender discrimination, bioethics, and so on. 

Learning for liberty

The Bible says, ‘The truth shall make you free (John, Chapter 8, Verses 32).’ In a modern interpretation, those who pursue the truth shall be free from political ideologies, mass media, and his own stereotypes. The liberal arts let students find a diversity of viewpoints of the world through discussions with other students and teachers and give them a recognition that their textbooks have no correct answers for most of issues in the society, nor do politicians, mass media, and even scientists sometimes. These learning processes ensure the intellectual liberty in which one would not forced to believe biased information and keep rational in every important stage of their lives, which I think is one of the fundamentals of higher education. For example, lack of this sense in Japan’s society might run this country into a wrong way, remaining stuck in every stage; politics, diplomacy, economy, and energy. After the Tohoku earthquake and the nuclear disaster, such an aspect of this country has been highlighted in the problems regarding some people brainwashed by health risks of radioactive materials who claims the threats of intaking foods from Tohoku even at the absence of scientific evidences.