Like a train that simply can't be stopped, the Hitotoki story mapping project continues to blow the doors off chapels and chemists, city after city. Tonight, this morning. afternoon, whatever time it may be, wherever you might be reading this, we launch our latest edition to the Hitotoki canon: HITOTOKI PARIS.

Curated by the lovely, amazing, talented and French speaking Lauren Elkin, this represents yet another Crafted With Care rollout of a Hitotoki city.

We've set a standard from the start of this project to publish only the best of the moments submitted to us. We set out to be selective with the express purpose of providing a more focused experience for the reader, to be the antithesis of web 2.0 content landslides. And to achieve this we've tried to surround ourselves with dedicated editors who understand this vision. So what we're trying to say is, if you have problems with the content of Hitotoki Paris, then blame Lauren. ;-)

As always, Hitotoki is very much a full force collaborative project between Paul Baron, Chris Palmieri and me. So if you have problems with the site, direct the complaints at us!

And so our little Hitotoki family grows once again!

After a long, top-secret incubation period, Hitotoki Sofia is now live. How we longed to scream to the world that this was in the works. Our mouths were sealed lest we break any number of iron-clad Bulgarian NDAs, all composed by a lawyer wearing nothing but tuxedo pants and living off carrots and dip for weeks on end. All this to ensure maximum excitement upon launch. None of us have ever been to Sofia, but based on the small number of Bulgarians we've met (lawyer included) and the stories they managed to collect for the launch of this city, I think it's safe to say Sofia is one of the undiscovered bastions of Eastern European wonder and gentility.

This edition was expertly curated and translated by Konstantin Vulkov and his team at Bulgarian National Darik Radio. We wish to thank him and his staff for all their hard work in bringing the world a little bit closer to Sofia.

Some select quotes from the launch entries:

001:

I like her because Ginka, Binka or Dochka, or whatever her name is, is the singular inhabitant of the stretch who could be possibly called “normal”. I like her and I hate her. For the same reason.

003:

Well, it was not a Cadillac, it was not even a Mercedes, it was not even a Ford, it was just a Wartburg. So from that moment there were two cars on our street. My father’s Wartburg, and the Cadillac of His Excellency. And the Saturday afternoons received a new meaning. My father and I started to wash the car together, with a hose and a soft brush, with soap-suds, the Wartburg started to shine fabulously. It was an enemy worthy of the huge Cadillac’s steel.

004:

I did not only hear the bells, I felt them with every inch of my body. There was something grand in that moment, at least this is how I felt it.

An editorial note:
For Hitotoki Sofia we've left all editorial nuance, spelling and grammar up to the Bulgarian team. This means that some of the phraseologies and word usages are somewhat ... unorthodox. We feel this is all part of the fun of bringing the voice and spirit of the city to a broader audience and hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did organizing it.

The deadline for Hitotoki - Washington, DC entries was yesterday, but we're extending it ever so slightly. So anyone who has a submission they'd like to be considered for the DC launch, run, don't crawl, to the Hitotoki DC page and grab the submissions form. Thanks!

We're not shy at CMP, so when Nik Mercer of Anthem magazine asked if he could interview us for the magazine's website, we said, "Hell yes," then proceeded to talk over each other until Nik had enough to emerge with this nifty little interview.. Anybody else want to chat?

The first AQ/CMP Hitotoki event, Hitoban, held last Tuesday, January 29th was a wonderful success. The Pink Cow graciously filled our gullets with some of the best Mexican style eats any of us had ever had in Tokyo. The Hitotoki readings were short, punchy, engaging and, sometimes, like in the case of Momus', a little bit scary. But scary with a wink and a twinkle.

You can catch all the excitement on Flickr! Because, yes ... your eyes, however tired they may be, aren't playing tricks on you. For the first time in history, we helped put on a literary event that was photographed and documented. Finally living proof that all our talk about readings and launch parties aren't fantastical aftershocks of too much LSD.

Thanks especially to the readers: Jean Snow, Shinjo-san, David Cady, Aneta, Guttersnipe Das, Ashley Rawlings, Momus, Sugawara-san and last, sometimes forgotten but certainly not least, Uleshka. And of course to HIllel for gracing us with a spontaneous reading from one of his short stories. All in all, a lot of fun and you can count on us trying to duplicate that same fleeting, impossible feeling you get when you find true love in a literary event a few months down the line.

CMP and AQ are proud to announce the launch of Hitotoki London!. We've been working hard over the last couple of weeks to get the site ready to go live. Our fearless, chips-eatin' British editor Oli did a fantastic curation job and has put together a helluva beautiful subset of London moments.

Richard Kovitch reflects on the changing London cityscape and revisiting old memories: "I stood and waited outside the flat I used to call home. It was close to midnight and the lights were on. There were new residents now. I wondered who they were, whether they were happy. A light drizzle fell. I waited and watched. A figure came to the window, silhouetted against the orange glow of the apartment. I couldn’t make out a face, but memories flooded back. But they were different this time. They no longer harboured anguish or pain. Those emotions belonged to someone else now. I felt only calm, like I was watching an old film, far removed from my own experiences. "

Jane Newton Chance remembers leaving home for good: ‘I’m not coming home,’ I say, ‘I’m in London’. There is a silence, but then there is bound to be. At this time of night my mother has progressed from sherry to whisky, so her processes are slow. But this silence seems to go on."

There's six other great entries up right now with more in the oven for the coming weeks. I want to thank everyone who submitted and who has helped spread the word about Hitotoki. We're always accepting submissions, so feel free to send something in if inspiration strikes.

Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone.

The Hitotoki London holding page is up and we're currently accepting submissions. The London site is set to launch mid-December so if you'd like your British infused hitotoki to be included in the launch, please submit by the end of November.

A submission form is available from the holding page and as always, you can sign up for the mailing list or subscribe to the feed to be notified of the launch.

Hitotoki New York is now live. Over the last few days we've managed, covering them in sweat and blood and Dotour Iced Coffee, to break many keyboards in our Tokyo offices.

Putting a site like this together is sort of like finding out you're giving birth to triplets in the middle of the birthing process. That is to say, something that seemed like it should have been a simple process was anything but simple.

The stories for this launch are fantastic. Thanks much in part to the diverse and delicious literary community in New York, and to our New York editor Matt Rand's word kung-fu. Matt was so scarred by the production process, he's run off to Africa for two weeks, freeing himself from email and computers fast enough to load hitotoki's home page.

Some highlights from the launch include:

Hitotoki New York 007 by Khoi Vinh: "Port Authority is an ugly building. About that there can be no debate. It has the kind of facade people can’t bear to stare in the face of for very long, like a scarred victim. But that perceived repulsiveness is rooted, I’m sure, in the services in which it deals. Is there a form of transportation known to Westerners that’s held in lower esteem than the bus?"

Hitotoki New York 002 by Kseniya Melnik: "A boy threw a ball my way, but I was too slow to catch it. The chess-playing men looked at me with suspicion. A pack of pigeons took off into the sky. I felt suspended between worlds."

Hitotoki New York 008 by Michael Maiello: "Lying on the cement steps across from us, shirtless Boris Yeltsin’s skin reddens as he reads a book. His lips move as he peruses the pages. We sneak toward him to see what he’s reading. It’s a book about how to flip real estate for profit."

Hitotoki is a collaboration with the pixel pushin', sushi eatin', monkey slappin' folks at AQ.

The Hitotoki expansion begins. Worldwide coverage to follow soon. For now, we'll start with a point far, far away from Tokyo: NYC.

We're accepting submissions for the launch during August. You can download a submissions form, or check out the site.

We have a great editor, Matt Rand, helping us watch our serial commas down in the front lines of Manhattan. Look out for a more formal introduction to Mr. Rand in an upcoming Hitotoki newsletter.

And, not to forget Tokyo, the submission process is always on, so send in your stories!