About Cosy Koji book

Thank you for your interest in Cosy Koji.
This page is written in response to those who, at this point in May 2022, have told us that they would like a book... I hope you will take the time to read it.

This project has been realised in the form of a book together with my friends from all over the world in 2021.

The main content of the book, Koji making, is based on the lectures I have given while travelling around Europe and Japan, my home.
The desire of many people to have the contents compiled into a book was one of the reasons for the production of this book. At first it was my personal project, but after the impact of the appearance of Covid19, which changed the way of life in the world in 2020 onwards, I gradually came to realise that this is something that I should not complete alone.

In the spring of 2021, I approached some friends in different parts of the world with whom I had developed a close emotional connection by then. I showed them a draft of the 30-35 pages that were ready at that point, and told them that this was what I was working on. I told them that at that point I didn't know how many pages it would be, that I didn't want it to be my own personal product, but that I wanted to grow it together with everyone, and that even if it wasn't finished, I would be happy just to share the process, and that doing so would make me feel alive.

From that moment on, Cosy Koji belonged to all of us. Like a baby, like a seedling that we are all raising together. I stayed the main producer of Cosy Koji, and we all stitched it together in group chats and in online meetings.

We are:
Anh Nguyen @anh_mainz, Germany
Christine Krauss @chirp_food, Germany
Hiroshi Sugihara @foodritual, Australia
Laurent Serin @adonde_lab, France
María José Mantilla @macondiments, Spain
Melissa Mills @sakeconnect, Australia
Mika and Nicholas Repenning @goenfermentedfoods, U.S.A

The year 2021 passed like that, of which I recall as a very easy going process.
There was no clear deadline, and 'publication' was not the goal. This was a book we wanted to have in this world, but it didn't exist, so we had to create it ourselves. 

It was more important to share it than to complete it. In the process of making it, we talked about many things with the members, down to the smallest details, sometimes even things that had nothing to do with the book, through tears and laughter.

I think the most important thing we needed to do was to stay connected. It was a time of conversation, of encouraging and assuring each other with compassion.

At the end of 2021, as if to mark a milestone in its production, I decided to print and bind our Cosy Koji. At that point, there were people all over the world who had already been waiting to see it through to completion.
We decided to bind only as many as they wanted and deliver them to their hands. We worked out the final design, chose the paper, the weights, the gold foil, the binding... the Dutch printer patiently consulted us on all the details.

December 2021. The prototype was then made available for a limited pre-order, and the book was bound in Holland for the number of people who pre-ordered it. Finally, in January 2022, Cosy Koji became a book and was sent around the world by international shipping. It was like sending a paper aeroplane.

Now, people who have Cosy Koji are literally all over the world.

Each and every Cosy Koji will spend time to come with that person. Just thinking about that makes me feel like I'm being blessed. I feel grateful. I am grateful that I was able to raise this book with so many hands. That it will continue to exist in many more hands.

After most of the first editions had been sold, there was no end to the number of people who still wanted a copy, so we decided to print Cosy Koji one last time, just for them. As with the first edition, we asked people in advance how many they wanted and only bound the pre-ordered copies. We have finished binding the books and will soon be able to complete the shipping process. The volume was too much for an individual to handle.

Some people asked if we would not distribute the book digitally. Read about it here.

We also distributed eight Cosy Koji books in the name of a 'travelling library', one for each continent, so each book travels from hand to hand and is lent out every two months. Read here for the guideline.

"May I still get a copy?"
I hope you have read this far to have your question answered. Myself won't have a capacity to have the book printed and ship them in a same way again. 

Thank you for reading to the end.
May your life continue to be healthy and bright.

Happy Cosy Koji!

Loves,
Marika