The Contributors: Sara Yasunaga

Website: godzilla23.deviantart.com

Sara Yasunaga is 16 years old and was born in Japan but currently lives in Canada. She is an aspiring artist and has been featured in several artbooks, including some Anime related titles such as Vocaloid and Hetalia. After she graduates from high school this year, she plans to return to Japan to further her education and pursue her dream of becoming a professional illustrator.

“I was born in Japan and spent my beloved childhood in the country. I love the country with all my heart and I was overtaken with joy when I was invited to this book.”

Sara illustrated several poems in book 3, “Sunset”, “Palms”, “Moon Flowers”, “Sunrise”, and “Storm Clouds”, all written by Patricia Morse-McNeely.

Here's Sara's rather cheeky interpretation of "Moon Flowers".

The Contributors: Yustina Intan Wulandari

Website: fruitscake.deviantart.com

Yustina Intan Wulandari, born in 1989, is currently studying Fine Art, specializing in oil paintings and aesthetic theory of craft at the Faculty of Art and Design, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia. She enjoys working with watercolor media as her hobby and loves to draw comics with a manga style.

Yustina illustrated the story “To Have Known a God”, written by Janey Reid, about the unusual relationship formed between a would-be warrior and the God Inari.

Here is a peak, for more, pick up book 3 of Fables for Japan.

The Contributors: Lucinda Wong

Website: starlitdragon.deviantart.com

Lucinda Wong is completing a J.D. at Queen's Law and loves to draw in what spare time she has. Her weapons of choice are pencils and Photoshop. In the past, Lucinda has worked with Drowtales Studio, a graphic novel company located in Quebec.

For book 3, Lucinda created this piece, inspired by the fable of “Tsuru no Ongaeshi”, known in America as "The Crane Wife" (although the actual translations is closer to: "The Crane's Repayment for Kindness Received") about a fisherman who rescues a wounded crane.

You can see more of this kind of work in Fables for Japan, book 3!

The Contributors: Charles T. Whipple

Website: http://www.chucktyrell.com/

Charles Whipple is a long-time resident of Japan. His articles appear in both magazines and newspapers. He had written several books and short stories on Japan including “Seeing Japan” and “A Matter of Tea”, which won the 2010 Oaxaca International Literature Competition. He also writes western novels as Chuck Tyrell, and is fluent in written and spoken Japanese.

In book 2, Charles wrote a risqué ghost story called “The Stairway”, with illustrations by Kristine Angela Demetrio.

In book 3, Charles donated his short story "A Matter of Tea", illustrated by Gareth Sleightholme, a tale about the perfect cup of tea the the price that comes with perfection.

Here are a few samplings of his work. For more, pick up books 1 and 2 of Fables for Japan.

"The Stairway" appearing in book 2

"A Matter of Tea" appearing in book 3.

The Contributors: Todd Sullivan

Todd Sullivan is the publisher of “The Stew Magazine”, an arts and lifestyle publication serving the interior of British Columbia, Canada. He has written for newspapers, magazines, and for the stage.

For book 3, Todd wrote “When the World Was Young”, illustrated by Jaz Douillard, a creation myth that reminds us how easy it is to forget that we are all connected.

Here the first 3 pages. Download your copy of book 3 to read the full story:

The Contributors: Wesley St. Claire

Website: boyblue219.deviantart.com

Wesley St. Claire is a 24-year-old artist from Kensington, Maryland. He began drawing at the age of 6 and enjoys storytelling and narrative art. Wesley attended Joe Kubert School of Graphic Design in Dover, New Jersey and just graduated this May.

Wesley came up with this piece for Fables for Japan, book 3. “Sanno's Messenger” is inspired by Sanno the Mountain King's monkey messenger.

The Contributors: Damon Smith

Damon Smith is the head logistics coordinator at a small company called Azimuth Communications. He grew up in Beaverton, which is just five minutes from the city of Portland, and studied at Portland community college. 

In his spare time he is a break dancer, a legal graffiti artist for small businesses, and draws comics. Drawing comics is a great passion of his. 

"I love comics because of the expression in the art itself, every artist has there own view on the world and with this art form it allows me to express how gritty yet beautiful things truly are."

For book 3, Damon penciled “The 47th Samurai", written by Chris Johnson and inked by Jason Temujin Minor, about a Ronin's search for vengeance and honor.

Here's a preview:

The Contributors: Gareth Sleightholme

Websites: apopheniainc.wordpress.com/ and www.coroflot.com/hesir
Twitter:@hesir

Gareth Sleightholme started his illustration career as an archaeological illustration trainee at the, now defunct, archaeology unit in Beverley, East Yorkshire. He has over 15 years’ experience in all areas of Illustration, Graphic Design, production design, film, and spent a number of years as a Theme Park designer, working across northern Europe, Scandinavia, and as far west as Florida.

He has been a visiting lecturer in animation at NSAD, Norwich, UK, and is currently lecturing at the Hull School of Art and Design on Animation, Games Design, and Design for the Public Realm as well as continuing to freelance for the visitor attraction and heritage industry.

Gareth has been involved with Fables for Japan from the beginning and has contributed to all 3 books.

In book 1, he illustrated the story "To My Masterpiece", written by Matt Funk, about an artist seeking to honor the one thing that matters most in his life.

In book 2, Gareth provided artwork for "The Waking, Spirits of the Noh", written by Christopher Golden. This is the prologue from the book "The Waking", donate by Christopher, which sets the stage for an intriguing tale of ghosts, demons, and Noh theater!

In the last book, Gareth illustrated the story "A Matter of Tea”, written by Charles Whipple, an award winning story about the consequences of achieving the perfect cup of tea. Gareth also provided several spot illustrations that appear throughout the series, a pin-up called “The Woman and the Samurai”, and his haiku, “Rebuild”, appears on the cover of book 3.

Here is just a small sampling of Gareth's amazing work. Pick up all 3 books to enjoy more!

"To My Masterpiece" appearing in book 1

"The Waking: Spirits of the Noh" appearing in book 2

"A Matter of Tea" appearing in book 3

The Contributors: Pruch Sintunava

Website: blackcenturies.deviantart.com

Pruch Sintunava is a freelance digital artist from Bangkok and had been greatly influenced by Japanese anime/manga. He aspires to break into 3d graphic modeling and was recently published in ANIME ANGELS.

Pruch submitted a piece for book 3 inspired by a very strange Japanese myth, called “Kama-itachi Sisters”.

The Contributors: Ayan Sengupta

Website: http://ayan-folio.blogspot.com/

Ayan Sengupta is a recent grad with BFAA in Animation from Sheridan College. He made several short films in 2009 and worked for ZINK Digital Agency as a compositor and matte painter for several television studios such as BRAVO, History, Space, and UTV Motion Pictures.

“I wanted to contribute to Fables for Japan because calamities happen and life suffers. These things are not in our hands. But what is in our control is what we do after. My meager contribution can suffice to a larger cause and create a “butterfly effect.”

--Ayan Sengupta

Ayan illustrated many of the haikus that Patricia Morse-McNeely submitted for book 1. For book 3 he provided illustrations for a short story also (written by Patricia) simply called "Tao" that explores the path to "God" as view by the 3 most prominent religions in Japan – Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity.

Here is a peak:

"Tao" appearing in Book 3

 Here is one of the haiku from book 1:

"Wings" appearing in book 1

The Contributors: Tony Salvaggio

Tony Salvaggio is a writer, tech artist, animator, and designer in the video games industry. He is co-creator of the manga-influenced series "Psy-Comm" from Tokyopop and the steampunk adventure "Clockwerx" from Humanoids Publishing. As a freelance journalist, Tony has penned the column "Calling Manga Island" for Comicbookresources.com, and worked on various video game and manga related writing projects. When he isn't playing with his band "Deserts of Mars", he is co-hosting the Castle Dracula podcast.

Tony wrote “Goemon and the Karakasa,” with illustrations by Andrew Robinson, about a thief and his unusual umbrella.

Here are the first 4 pages of the story. We hope you enjoy it and remember, the full story and many more can be found in Fables for Japan, book 3, on sale now!