Laetitia Shobo Manager's Journal
Anthology "Diary of a Night Where Nothing Happens"
"Tsuki to Bunsha" is a small, independent publisher that is very popular at our shop. Although they have published fewer than 10 titles, every one of them captures the lives and moods of young people living in today's world.
How do you spend your time alone on your days off? "My Lonely Sunday," an anthology of essays written by 17 people of different generations and backgrounds about their days off alone, was quite good, and now its follow-up, "Diary of a Night Where Nothing Happens" (1,980 yen), has been released. The cover illustration is by Reiko Shibuya, who also did the cover for "My Lonely Sunday."
17 new, unknown writers have written about what they think about on "nights that are not days off." Amidst the routine of life—eating dinner, taking a bath, and going to bed as usual—each of the 17 reflects on their own past and future. You might wonder if reading about such private matters is interesting, but it really draws you in. Asuka Fujikawa, the publisher's representative, writes in the introduction: "This is an essay anthology for which I asked acquaintances and people I found on note to write about what they think about on 'a night of a normal day,' including diary entries. I reached out to people who have unique perspectives and a certain flavor in their writing, and those who seemed likely to frankly write about the path to their current selves and their frustrations."
The writers, ranging from their 20s to 50s, include office workers, systems engineers, baristas, trade journal reporters, graduate students, illustrators, bookstore managers, writers, and Fujikawa-san from "Tsuki to Bunsha" herself, and every chapter was captivating.
In 2020, a small bookstore called "Michikusa Shoten" opened in a small port town called "Manazuru" in the western part of Kanagawa Prefecture. Michiko Nakamura, who runs the shop with her husband, wrote the piece titled "Tasting a 'World with Life'."
"Time to go to sleep. When I returned to the room, a mountain of freshly washed laundry was piled carelessly on the sofa. Should I do it tomorrow? I struggled with that for a while. I folded it with the lights dimmed so as not to wake my sleeping family. Mismatched socks, sweaters covered in pilling, Heattech, vintage bath towels, un-Instagrammable loungewear—all of these are my life. I look up at the sheets in the winter sun, and breathe in the warmth and scent of the dried laundry. I sometimes want to see a world where all housework is fully automated in my lifetime, but that would be equivalent to a 'world without life.' I won't let go of life. I want to believe that by moving my hands, my unruly life becomes something certain. I folded the laundry with a prayer that no one's life would be taken away."
It is a book that makes you want to flip through it on an uneventful night and face yourself once again.
⭐️Laetitia Shobo Gallery Information
7/22 (Wed) - 8/23 (Sun) Mini Press Fair
⭐️Event Announcement: October 25th (Sun) Talk Show with Hokkaido Nature Guide Makoto Ando
Starts at 17:30 (2,000 yen, reservation required)
⭐️New Arrivals
Kabuto Natsumori "Days of Creating a Place to Belong" (1,210 yen)
Miyuki Ozawa "See You Again at Lean In" (1,100 yen)
Nobuhiro Sanchu "Memories of a Bookshelf" (2,530 yen)
Ai Miyoshi "Understanding Dog Poop" (2,420 yen)
Shizuka Kojika "Book of a Kitchen Drunkard" (660 yen)
"Labor Anthology: Kodo 2" (1,500 yen)
green birds "Time Homestay" (1,500 yen)
Nao Suzuki "To the Sukiya I Saw from the Shinkansen for Curry..." (2,200 yen)
Yuan "Bookmaking Diary" (800 yen)
Shizuka Hori "My Husband Isn't Ryuhei Matsuda, But" (2,200 yen sold out)
Shigoto Bunmyaku 28 "Study of Strength and Weakness" (1,320 yen)
Amiko Aoki "Library, Entering the Mountains" (1,980 yen)
Edited by Tsuki to Bunsha "Diary of a Night Where Nothing Happens" (1,980 yen)
Takashi Itagaki "One Hundred (One) Years of Solitude <Vol. 1>" (2,200 yen)
Kanako Hayajiki "51% Uncertainty" (600
yen)
Shoji Tanabe "Bird's-Eye View of Life in a Storage Shed" (1,650 yen)
Kanako Hayajiki "Rashly, a One-Person Publisher" (900 yen)
Setagaya Ping-Pong "Sentiment is My Backbone" (1,980 yen)
Masanori Naito Seminar "The Seminar is Serious but Useful" (2,750 yen)
"Kyoto Town Chinese Club 4" (968 yen)
Setagaya Ping-Pongs "Sentiment is My Backbone" (1,980 yen)
"Tomorrow's Bread" (2,500 yen)
Mimamorineko "While Picking Up, It Comes into View" (1,100 yen)
Edited by Gururi "Cats Love You Too" (1,980 yen)
Anthology "Tracing the Scent of Books in Tokushima" (1,430 yen)