Let's Talk About Books! The Day of the Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market

The day of the Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market finally arrived.
My book-loving daughter was exhausted from the intense heat this summer and couldn't help out. Just then...

I'll go! Even though I don't know anything about books.
Instead, it was my husband who came to help run the BOOK flea market stall.

My husband isn't a reader, but last year he suddenly asked to borrow a book, and over the course of several months, he finished reading Hiro Arikawa's 'Hankyu Densha'. Now, he is in the middle of reading Kotaro Isaka's 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik', also taking several months to do so.

He is an extremely slow reader, but he is fast at work and housework. I, on the other hand, read books quickly but work slowly. Our personalities are also opposites; he is impatient and sensitive, while I am laid-back and rather careless.

He put pressure on me by saying, 'Iris, you're the store manager today, so do a good job,' and when I replied, 'Then you must be the sales manager,' his face lit up with motivation, as he works in sales.

The wonderful thing about the Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market is that you can open a shop immediately just by bringing books, change, and price tags.

The shopping center provides the tables for merchandise, tablecloths, chairs, and wooden crates for bookshelves, so the only heavy things to bring are the books, making it light work. That's why you can open a shop even without a car. Since we don't have a car, we came to Futako-Tamagawa by train.

We finished setting up the shop in about an hour. I was strangely nervous being in a new place. The sales manager then added even more pressure.

Store manager, your hands are shaking.
!!

That remark made me even more flustered. Oh, come on!
I gave the sales manager a light glare and told myself I needed to calm down.

This is exactly when I need books. I stared at the books I would be handing to everyone at the BOOK flea market. These were books I had carefully selected for this day...

'Cafune', this year's Japan Booksellers' Award winner, is a work that brought warm tears to my eyes and made me glad I read it. Afterward, I went to a signing event because I wanted to meet Akiko Abe, and since I had two copies, I put one up for sale.

When I was young, I hardly read any novels, but I did buy and read Yoko Ogawa's 'The Housekeeper and the Professor', the winner of the first Japan Booksellers' Award. Even for people who don't read many novels, the Japan Booksellers' Award has an impact. That was part of my strategy.

Then there is 'Break Shot no Kiseki', a Naoki Prize nominee that depicts the darkness and light of modern society with an excellent structure. It's a work I wanted someone to read as soon as possible!

Also, 'Things I Want to Know About Palestine from Junior High' and 'Gaza Diary'. These aren't novels, but I put them up for sale because I want many people to know about the Palestinian issue and the history and current situation of the Gaza Strip.

All the other books are works I'm glad I read, too! A nearby vendor noticed me looking flustered and said, 'You have a lot of great books here,' and complimented me. How kind... It'll be alright!

At exactly 11:00 AM, about 50 'bookstores' at the Tamagawa BOOK Flea Market opened all at once. Customers flooded into the venue.

However, while the shop next to me was selling books one by one, 30 minutes had passed since the start and not a single book from my shop had sold...

To be continued...!