Quakebook

This in no way undermines the logo, but it is the final book cover that you will soon be able to enjoy on your preferred device when Quakebook goes on sale digitally in a day or two.

Our awesome logo designer, @marikurisato, has put down her art tools to tell you where the logo came from:

“The logo inspiration came almost immediately. The whole country was affected. That fact demanded a symbol of nationality, without using stereotypical imagery (no samurai for example). Therefore I researched the color of Japan’s modern National Flag as the most basic perimeter. I wanted to resist an image that showed quake damage, or a wound, but rather hinted at the strength in the most fundamentally universal image of helping someone up.

“My usual style is very detailed, but I wanted to minimize a specific ethnic group, and rather project a humanity wide effort, which is why the arms are silhouettes coming from outside the flag’s “sun” image. Then it was a matter of refining the image to it’s most basic shapes, without dehumanizing the sensation. I hope it conveys not just an emotion, but a sense of purpose and action.

“I actually felt almost feverish, as if I was just watching myself work from the outside, being controlled by the idea.”

WE  LOVE IT!

Yes, it is now time to read Quakebook. In a few hours, the Japan Times will publish excerpts from the book.

We can’t wait! Thank you to the Times for its support.

Well, yes. Obviously. No-one has ever done anything like this before!

However, for the observant amongst you, the reason our first blog post is dated 2018 is to keep that particular post at the top so everyone understands what Quakebook is from the start. All new posts come below that.

Thanks to @AqParavane for querying the logic of this!! It’s a Blogger thing.

Photos from Quakebook supporters are now on Flickr. Thanks to @taotsu for setting it up.

Everyone who writes about, reports on or buys #Quakebook is going to have one simple question: how did this all start?

So, after some searching around, I traced the origin of Quakebook – both the name and the original idea. Here is the series of tweets from @ourmaninabiko that will answer the questions you all have.

When you buy your copy of Quakebook, you’ll see that the first three tweets below have been given the first page in the book, opposite the copyright listings. That’s how important these words are to us, to this project. They formed the germ of the idea for everything we have done since.

Within 4 minutes, the idea was being fleshed out:

And a mere 17 minutes later, we find where the original inspiration came from:

So, that should give every reader and journalist the information they require about how this started!

And where did the name come from?

It was pointed out quite quickly, by @marikurisato, that he had the hashtag right there!

You may note that the 74 submissions had come in a mere 15 hours from the original idea. Which says something about the power of the Internet and those who use it. And how willingly people from around the world jumped in to help those in Japan, who despite all they were going through, also found the time and energy to write about their experiences. Now, there are just hours to wait to Buy the Book!

To all those who have done a truly amazing job on the edit – a massive round of applause. And may you all now enjoy a much earned chance to sleep.

So, to @ourmaninabiko, @thatdanryan, @whatwhated, @sandrajapandra, @shogannai, @robertodevido @Rosencrantz_M

Three cheers from all the #quakebook supporters around the world.

(I hope I haven’t missed anyone – apologies if I have).

Next step is the meeting with Amazon tomorrow…….

Thanks to @cyberdoyle for generating a Wordle for us.

It really is that simple! Show your support for #quakebook by following @quakebook

Without twitter, we would not be where we are today!

NB this is not formatted folks, just names and stuff so you can see. Yes, I know Names and Title are out of alphabetical order. There is a reason. Carry on.

Names – Yoshiko Ikeda, West Tokyo
Alive – Steve Nagata, Tokyo
Another – Masumi Nabekawa Abiko, Chiba
Beautiful – Christopher Maurer, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Birthday – Jonas Neergaard-Nielson, Tokyo
Bravery – Yoshie Sherriff, Abiko, Chiba
Cakes – Arun Vemuri, Tokyo
Care – Yuki Watanabe, Tokyo
Ceiling-light – Brian Wood, Tokyo
Ceremonies – Wesley Cheek, Kyoto
Changed – Florian, Osaka
Close – Debora K. Ohnishi, Utsunomiya, Tochigi
Contrast – Vadim Zendejas, Vadim Zendejas
Conversation – Michael Gakuran, Nagoya
Cushions – Shaun Hickox, Tokyo
Dark – Andy Heather, Kyoto
Debris – Greg Harbin, Wakabayashi, Sendai
Decisions – Ted Taylor, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Determination – Andy Sharp, Yokohama
Disappeared – Brighid Rader, Kentuky, USA
Distance – Brent Stirling, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Encouragement – Grandfather Hibiki, Sendai
Engage – Tokyo Twilighter, Tokyo
Escape – James Hou, Koriyama, Fukushima
Evacuated – Takamori Hayao, Osaka
Exactly – Mark Rende, Nihonbashi, Tokyo
Expectations – Miho Nishihiro, Abiko, Chiba
Experience – Kosuke Ishihara, Abiko, Chiba
Facebook – Joel David Neff, Takanezawa, Tochigi
Faculty – Rodney Van Meter, Yokohama
Forget – Michiko Segawa, Chiba
Forward – Maxamillian John, London
Ganbaro – Lowlypoetic, Kyoto
Gesture – N. Cobayne, Shizuoka
Goal – Naomi, Canada
God – John Janzen, Japan
Graduation – May Arai, Kamakura
Harmony – Tom Hope, Tokyo
Heart – Victoria, Tokyo
Help – Yui and Shizue Nonaka, Abiko, Chiba
Home – Kimberly Tierney, Tokyo
Illusion – Hiromi Davis, Tosashimizu, Kochi
Leaving – Sandra Barron, Los Angeles
Lingering – Soso Bureau staff, Soma and Futaba cities
Lost – Matthew Holmes, Shimokitazawa
Loving – Shehan Raban, Kohoku, Chiba
Lucky – Stephen Lyth, Tokyo
Muenbotoke – Jake Adelstein, Tokyo
Morals – Yuichiro Ito, Kesenuma, Miyagi
Mountain – Edan Corkill, Zushi, Kanagawa
Neighbors – Yumiko Takemoto, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki
Normal – Laurent Fintoni, Koenji, Tokyo
OK – Naotoshi Nabekawa, Abiko, Chiba
Options – Jason Morgan, Kawasaki
Overwhelmed – Corey Wallace, Aukland, New Zealand
Pajamas – Mark Warschauer, Tokyo
Photographs – Mari Aquarian, Concord, New Hampshire, USA
Positive – Arthur Davis, Tosahimizu, Kochi
Precious – Keiko Fujii, Abiko, Chiba
Prepared – Annamarie Sasagawa, Shinjuku Sasagawa
Radioactive – Ian Martin, Tokyo
Really? – Chikae Singleton, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Rebuilding – Mr Salaryman, Tokyo
Recovery – Yoko Kobayashi, Abiko, Chiba
Relief – Don Myles, Falkirk, Scotland
Remoteness – Sybil Murray, United Kingdom
Same – Baye McNeil, Yokohama
Scenarios – Miles Woodroffe, Tokyo
Shaken – James Simpson, Kawasaki
Signs – Terrie Matsuura, Shizuoka
Strength – Ai Hinton, Kashiwa
Strong – Robert Ouwehand, Seoul, South Korea
Television – Richard Smart, Tokyo
Together – Jesse Johnson, Abiko, Chiba
Tremors – Iain Hair, Tokyo
Trousers – Joseph Tame, Tokyo
Underground – Bigger in Japan, Kamakura
Underneath – Yuko Kato, Tokyo
Understanding – Mari Kurisato, Denver, Colorado, USA
Values – Kaoru Raban, Kohoku, Chiba
Vertical – Philip Brasor, Tokyo
Voices – Jessica Tomoko Perez, The Bronx, New York
Waiting – Kevin Wood, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Want – Dan Castellano, Tokyo
Window – William Gibson, Vancouver, BC
Test – Yushi Tabe, Tokyo