THANKS TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS AND SUPPORTERS FOR SHARING AND CARING - TOGETHER WE DID IT!!! 

**If you missed the deadline, but still want to contribute and get a book, black sugar, Ishigaki souvenirs or any other perks, please email me at jmuzacz@gmail.com !!  I can still put your contributions toward publishing and production costs, and you can still get some awesome island stuff! Contact me!

Now to design the book and go through publishing procedures to get it into print form in August. I will keep you updated, but feel free to check my homepage anytime at http://jmuzacz.com for Life Is Sweet, future projects and to keep in touch :)

"Across the road from a stream and next to the shed without a roof, there is a sugarcane field..."

The People have spoken, Option #1 Cover design "The Field" it is!

If you have a sweet tooth and/or want to live to be 100...Get the book and some black sugar! You've never tasted healthy sugar this good. A one-way ticket for your senses straight to a little known island of southern Okinawa. Perfect reading for the kids, too. Don't have kids? Give the book to a friend who does! I need your contribution now to publish this work properly in August.

"It is interesting that Okinawa is famous for enjoying the greatest longevity among the entire Japanese population, and the Japanese themselves have the longest life span in the world. The consumption of pure Kokuto black sugar along with plenty seaweed, tofu and pork (yes, pork!) is believed to contribute to the healthy long life of Okinawans."

(Old-fashioned boiler room on Ishigaki, stirring the "Kokuto" black sugar)

Short Summary

Artist/author of Japan 365: A Drawing-A-Day Project, English teacher in Kyoto, environmental awareness rider with Bicycle for Everyone's Earth, urban art instructor with "at-risk" youth, painter of countless murals in more than 5 countries and... a sugarcane farmer???

This latest project, after three-months of back-breaking labor in the "satou-kibi" sugarcane fields, will be the first EVER picture book in English about the field, cute critters therein, traditional and modern harvest and processing methods and some of the colorful local characters involved here on Ishigaki Island.

As a contributor NOW through Indiegogo, YOU will help to publish the First Edition hardcover book Life Is Sweet, thus creating a useful cultural time capsule, preserving a way of life for many, and helping to teach this generation and future generations about the delicious sugarcane that the Yaeyama Islands and Okinawa are famous for.

Written and illustrated from first-hand experience, a new kind of book for the public library and your house. A culturally enlightening story about teamwork, community and protecting nature and respecting tradition that you can read with the kids!

RAVE REVIEWS for Life Is Sweet artwork from some tough critics... A couple old men on Ishigaki - shopkeeper and a black sugar maker:

"You've got sonzaikan." (Sonzaikan is a word meaning the 'feeling of existence,' or 'life of the party,' can be both good and bad...I think he meant in the good way ;P)

"You can feel real Okinawa - a little. From an outsider? Great! Bring many books here, I'll buy them."

Also, some good press from METROPOLIS TOKYO magazine here.

Click the Gallery tab above to see some fresh new illustrations! Or check out even more on Facebook - LIFE IS SWEET album.

Recent article I wrote for Okinawa Stripes News - Do you take sugar?

Listen to the brand new "LIFE IS SWEET" track by MANATEEMANN on SoundCloud here

What you GET - PERKS

SWEET Perks I want to send to YOU straight from Ishigaki for contributing:

1) LIFE IS SWEET - The Hardcover BOOK in FULL COLOR  (It's Cool!)

2) A Bag of Authentic Ishigaki "KOKUTO" Black Rock Sugar  (It's Sweet!)

3) ISHIGAKI T-Shirt and Surprise Island Souvenirs  (It's Super!)

4) FIVE books, plus stickers, to Share with friends  (Sharing is caring!)

5) PRODUCER Credit - YOUR NAME printed in EVERY BOOK  (It's Epic!)

6) Digital Book Download (PDF) of Life Is Sweet (It's Digital!)

*Just to clarify, book size will actually be 8.5"x11"- that's right, BIGGER than the 6x9" stated at right!

**Perks and minimum contribution required to receive them outlined on the right. All minimums include shipping. You CAN contribute more, though, or get more than just one perk! Books will come with a unique one-off dedication sticker, written personally from me to you, for the inside cover of your book(s). All perks get you a digital download (PDF), too. Please ask me via comment here or by email if you need any clarification about perks, jmuzacz@gmail.com.

***When you contribute, opt to get campaign updates like new posts, pictures, video and song from Ishigaki. Then forward your friends about it. Like these little friends from the field - a frightened field mouse and a poisonous "habu" pit viper!

What I need from YOU - $$$upport

To cover the cost of publication, printing and distribution of Life Is Sweet, I need your monetary contribution now in exchange for SWEET perks, like your own copy of the BOOK and Black Sugar! Estimated production cost budget (in USD):

Design, proofreading, editing and promotion = 1000

Scanning, ISBN and barcode, Library of Congress, copyright, set-up = 199

Printing hardcover (cloth cover with dust jacket) books = 16.90 per unit (ouch!), 200 books = 3380

Shipping = varies, min. $4 per book (more for international orders) = 800

Other perks (sugar - 5/bag, Tee - 15 ea., souvenirs) - 1000

Misc. (stickers, packaging materials, etc.) - 300

*Total = $6679  (*Excluding % fees to Indiegogo and Paypal)

This is a wonderful opportunity for me to share a special piece of Ishigaki Island. I encourage anyone with the time and means to visit. There is scuba diving with manta rays, snorkeling the coral reef, kayaking mangrove forests, hiking Okinawa's tallest mountain Omoto peak, birdwatching, cute cafes offering delicious local delicacies (lots of seaweed!), nearby island hopping to preserved Ryukyu villages and people that are genuinely laid-back and friendly offering infinite hospitality.

But for NOW, let me send You some "Kokuto" Black Sugar to munch on while you read your SWEET new book! Grab your PERK on the right! >>

If my goal is not reached, publication will still be possible for print-on-demand books for those of you who chose a book perk. Sugar and other Ishigaki souvenir perks are also covered by your contribution. So NO WORRIES, You will get your perks as promised when you donate - if that is the case I will just have to scrounge up funds and foot the rest of the associated publication costs with my meager migrant laborer earnings :(

So, please contribute now! :)

The IMPACT

Life Is Sweet will be the first ever picture book in English about the Ishigaki Island sugarcane harvest. That means the book will be a great asset in preserving the traditional and current histories being written as farmers plow their fields and the big factory or small local presses process their cane. My shared experience will provide a deeper understanding of the various aspects of the region-specific work that rough and weathered farmers must do each year to satisfy the national sweet tooth. I worked the fields myself blistered, bug-bitten, sunburnt, busted and bruised in order to accurately offer this special in-depth look at an annual way of life for many - a means to survive on beautiful, yet typhoon-ridden, windswept island gems like Ishigaki.

Meeting a local farmer with generations of experience and a wealth of knowledge about all aspects of growing and harvesting satou-kibi sugarcane, I was very lucky as a foreigner to be taken under wing, trained and gain first hand experience from the start. I feel obliged thus to recreate through colorful images bound with an insightful story what I have seen, felt and learned in a FUN way.

This local history is completely unique to the Yaeyama Islands of Ryukyu Okinawa, though many underlying themes and struggles on this small island represent much greater universal issues. For instance, that of modern farmers worldwide balancing environmental costs and benefits associated with growing crops we all love and can't get enough of, the importance of cultivating teamwork and healthy community, respecting tradition while increasingly utilizing new technologies to maximize efficiency, AND that unmatched contentment you feel after completing a long, hard day's work.

(Well-known sugarcane farmer and his grandson)

Other Ways You Can HELP

Some people just can’t contribute $ for perks right now, and that is totally fine. But you CAN still help by:

Getting the word out, make some NOISE! Online and in REAL LIFE (Tell your friends, the local paper, your favorite magazine or blog, send a link)

Use Indiegogo easy share tools- E-mail, Facebook, post a Link, Tweet it, Blog it, etc. ^Easy buttons above!^