Important Notice

Dear PingMagMAKE readers,

It’s the last day of 2008, and we have a sad announcement to make.

From today, PingMagMAKE will be taking an extended hiatus, and will not be updated for the forseeable future.

PingMagMAKE has been running for 1 year now, and over that time literally millions of you, from every single corner of the planet, have visited, read our articles, left comments, linked to us on your blogs, sent us letters of support - some of you have even flown to Tokyo to join us!

We are eternally grateful for your fantastic support over the years.

It is only because of you all that we have managed to keep PingMagMAKE going this long, and with every article we have made new friends, and found new, exciting people and places here in Japan and all over the world.

Thank you! Thank you for all your love and good will. We can only offer our sincerest apologies that we are unable to continue returning your fantastic generosity.

The world is facing tough times right now, and many of you may have uncertain months ahead. Wherever you are and whatever your circumstances, we wish you all the very best of luck, and look forward to being able to meet again, we hope, at some point in the future.

All the very best wishes from Tokyo,

Tom, and the entire PingMagMAKE team.

25 Comments

1. Oh no! I’m so sad… Good luck with wherever you go!

   Posted by: Heather T. on January 1st, 2009 at 1:23 am

2. Thank you so much for all of the wonderful stories over the past year. It’s been fantastic to read about artisan craftspeople in Japan and see a window on that culture that is often overlooked in the high-tech age. ありがとうございます！

   Posted by: extrarice on January 1st, 2009 at 2:00 am

3. Thank you so much for creating this gem of cultural knowledge!

   May the winds favor your journey!

   Posted by: Bonan on January 1st, 2009 at 3:40 am

4. Sorry to see you go. This is one of the few really inspired blogs on the net. Please keep the original PingMag alive. Peace.

   Posted by: Earl on January 1st, 2009 at 4:38 am

5. Thanks for all the great articles….as a relatively late joiner, I look forward to going through your archives and meeting all the wonderful people you introduced. Best wishes in the New Year…and good luck with your future projects.

   Posted by: Leslie on January 1st, 2009 at 7:52 am

6. will you archive the site articles and maintain them on the web….please!

   Posted by: larry on January 1st, 2009 at 8:03 am

7. So sad to see you go. But most heartful thanks for such an enjoyable site. Beautiful while it lasted.

   May the road before all of you be wide and open, with full sunshine overhead and the wind behind your back.

   So long, and come back when you feel so inclined.

   Posted by: Espinosa, Erlinda on January 2nd, 2009 at 4:05 am

8. You’ve opened the hearts of people around the world to the beauty being handcrafted in Japan by artists and craftspeople.

   Thank you so much for enriching this reader’s life.

   Aloha,

   Emma Howard

   Posted by: Emma Howard on January 2nd, 2009 at 7:20 am

9. Thank you very much for sharing your culture made grate people.

   Posted by: Bernardo Valdes on January 3rd, 2009 at 2:46 am

10. I am so sorry to hear this news. I have enjoyed all your wonderful interviews with amazing talents. Hopefully you will return someday! A reader in Detroit.

    DOMO ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU

    Posted by: Lily on January 3rd, 2009 at 3:46 am

11. Truly sorry to read this. I really enjoyed the Make interviews particularly, so fascinating, educational and inspirational. Very sad, but thank you for all your hard work.

    Posted by: Rainjar on January 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 pm

12. Wow. That is unfortunate. I just found the site and it’s already gone. :-( Good site though. Good luck to you and your team going forward.

    Posted by: Aleksandar M. Velkoski on January 4th, 2009 at 1:02 am

13. Too bad for us.
    It’s been a real pleasure to read and learn from you.
    hope we’ll meet you again in the futur!

    Posted by: fougougou on January 5th, 2009 at 12:20 am

14. Although i live in cleveland, it was a wonderful opportunity for me to look around this website and read great articles about japan. i really thank you for all the great stories and hope everything is well with your team!

    Posted by: ara on January 6th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

15. […] the PingMagMAKE site where the interview was posted seems to have gone on an extended hiatus. I was sorry to read this, as I’ve enjoyed perusing their […]

    Posted by: My Media Mirror » Blog Archive » 97-year-old Botanical Artist on January 6th, 2009 at 11:30 pm

16. […] ресурс PingMagMAKE, опубликовавший этот материал, закрывается на неопределенный срок. Очень […]

    Posted by: Увлекательная биология « Wattmagazine — создает напряжение on January 7th, 2009 at 1:17 am

17. This is tragic. Thank you for the work you put in. It was a great idea and a wonderful site

    Posted by: Funazushi on January 8th, 2009 at 5:57 am

18. Thanks so much for all the stories. I enjoyed reading all of them.
    I would pay a subscription for this site. There are too many good sites going down because ppl think everything should be free on the internet. People should pay for good content!

    Posted by: M.M on January 8th, 2009 at 7:16 pm

19. Thank you for the truly wonderful stories. I hope that you come back again soon.

    Posted by: Kevin Murray on January 9th, 2009 at 12:14 pm

20. I’ve enjoyed every article that you have published. I hope you will find some way to continue.

    Posted by: FJ on January 9th, 2009 at 1:14 pm

21. I enjoyed the PingMagMAKE very much. Fantastic work!

    I wish everyone all the best too and hopefully PingMagMAKE would come back.

    Posted by: Kong on January 10th, 2009 at 9:20 pm

22. Loved PingMagMAKE best!! Thank you so much for sharing all these fantastic stories. If there’s any chance please return!

    Posted by: Johanna on January 13th, 2009 at 5:01 am

23. Please …. do not stay off-line for too long. Like many others here, I have been delighted by the articles posted on your website. Thank you so much for the joy you have brought into our lives.

    Posted by: William Chow on January 13th, 2009 at 2:10 pm

24. Dear Ping Make,

    Your site was one of my favorites. It presented a world we need to hear about and gave needed visibility to crafts people trying mightily to preserve a way of life.

    I am, however, extremely disappointed in you and how you’ve handled this website closure. Did you not think to enlist us, your loyal global readership, as part of a potential solution?

    I would gladly pay to support more of this rare and valuable material and imagine that there are plenty of others out there who would too. I’m disappointed that you did not open your internal process and challenges to us and allow us to help you. You haven’t used the power of the web to its fullest capacity. Come on, guys! We deserve better than this and you need to step up to the plate!

    Sincerely,

    Jeremy Hunter

    JPHunter@gmail.com

    Posted by: Jeremy JPHunter@gmail.com on January 30th, 2009 at 4:05 am

25. Please come back! :(

    Posted by: Rafael Masoni on April 27th, 2009 at 11:34 pm

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PingMag MAKE is the sister site to PingMag. We use an interview format to put the spotlight on a wide range of people active in rural areas. We document the voices of these unknown heroes and broadcast them to the world. It’s the Japan-based magazine about people and making things, coming out once a week. We’re passing on the passion, ideas, skills, and life stories of people who are building today and exploring tomorrow: craftsmen, engineers, entrepreneurs, and inventors. Stay tuned!