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[Table of Contents] I am releasing "A Reader for Future Bookstores" for free. [Full Text Release]

2018年11月5日 17:40

A Note on the note Version

I have decided to release the full text of "A Reader for Future Bookstores" for free on note. I have also obtained permission from the publisher, NHK Publishing.

As for why I am releasing the full text for free, you can probably infer it from around Chapter 2 of this book (or Chapter 2 of my previous book, "The Counterattack of Books," published in 2013). As an author, I wanted to make the text I wrote a part of a 'fluid construct' and that is why I chose this place called note.

I hope many people will read it, freely copy and paste it for citations, use it as a basis for discussion, or use it as a reference for opening a bookstore. I worked quite hard to divide the articles to make them easy to read. I would feel lonely if nothing happened, so please, I look forward to your support.

If you find value in it beyond the <1600 yen + tax> price, the paper book or the e-book would be appreciated. The paper version, in particular, has a unique physical construction, so I highly recommend it.

Well then, please enjoy.

*On November 5, 2018, I released up to Chapter 3 all at once. Since then, I have been updating one section every weekday at 7:00 AM, and on February 20, 2019, the full text was completely released.

Introduction

I loved books, so in 2003, I quit the company I joined as a new graduate after two months and became a freelancer. I was thinking about how I could somehow make a living working with books. Since this year is 2018, 15 years have passed since then.

I currently run a 45-tsubo (approx. 148 sqm) new bookstore called "Books & B&B" in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. "B&B" stands for "BOOKS & BEER," and you can drink beer inside the store. Also, we hold events every day—every night on weekdays, and twice a day (day and night) on weekends and holidays—inviting various guests, with an average of 50 people and up to 100 people gathering.

In addition to my own store, I do various work under the name "NUMABOOKS" and the title "Book Coordinator" to create encounters between books and people. Looking back at myself 15 years ago, I am very fortunate. Rare consultations regarding books, from government agencies to private companies in all industries, have started to come to me, mainly from outside the publishing industry. As a manager of a new bookstore, an outside director of a used bookstore, and having started a publishing company last year, I have come to feel the internal circumstances from multiple angles. While sometimes feeling crushed by the pressure, the increase in opportunities to be involved is a great personal joy.

This book was written because I wanted to convey to those who love books and bookstores what I have researched and thought about bookstores over the past 15 years while working with books.

Traditional bookstores are in a tough spot. The background, of course, includes the internet and smartphones. On the other hand, more people are starting small bookstores. This is not a phenomenon unique to Japan; it seems to be a common trend in developed countries around the world, especially those with large reading populations. It is not necessarily profitable. However, people who love books open bookstores for people who love books. There is usually a new idea there that does not exist in traditional bookstores, which is necessary to continue in the coming era.

This book is written for those who want to know and think about such a future image of small bookstores. The examples introduced are mainly from within Japan, but I have also touched a little on our neighbors, South Korea and Taiwan. Although written in Japanese, I aimed to make it a useful book for comrades around the world in countries with similar underlying situations (if a translated version is released).

There are three things I want to clarify in this book. I will explain them in the order of the flow of books.

The first is the charm of books and bookstores. Why do people have such an attachment to bookstores, wish for them to continue, or start them themselves, even while being told they are so tough and unprofitable? I want to clarify that again. First, I will organize it from the customer's perspective (Chapter 1). Next, after unraveling what a book is in the first place (Chapter 2), I will think about it from the perspective of a bookstore that handles them (Chapter 3).

The second is how to stock books. Even though there are so many individuals with the passion to open a small bookstore, for some reason, there is no consolidated information on how to do it. I want to cover and clarify that. Since distribution circumstances differ by country, this part is a local story for Japan. I have color-coded the paper gray and wrote it with the intention of it being a so-called "separate volume." I want only those who need it to read it (Separate Volume).

The third is how to think about continuing a small bookstore. If the first half is the foundation, then this is the practical part of the second half. First, I will explain bookstores as a retail business (Chapter 4). From there, I will raise two approaches to making a living from a bookstore: "downsizing" (Chapter 5) and "multiplying" (Chapter 6), and include a discussion as a concrete example (Talk). After that, I will write about two approaches that do not necessarily involve making a living from a bookstore: "incorporating into the main business" (Chapter 7) and "separating from the main business" (Chapter 8). Finally, I will introduce my own case (Chapter 9).

Although it is a small book compared to the size of the subject matter, it took a full three years to write, partly because I wrote it alongside my practical work. I feel like I can hear voices saying they are tired of reading books written by bookstore owners. However, this book is probably different from any past book in terms of comprehensiveness and practicality.

Even if it is insufficient, there should be a map to look over and a textbook to return to. That is the kind of book this young person aimed for, with fear and trembling.

Chapter 1 The Joy of Bookstores
You can stay for hours / The structure of the impossible / The most familiar trip around the world / The joy of preparing for a trip / Bookstores are places of encounter / The joy of finding the book you were looking for / The joy of encountering new interests / Are bigger bookstores better? / The joy of being physically overwhelmed / The existence of people who love books and bookstores / You don't know a book until you read it / Buying even if you can't finish reading / The personal collection of a bookstore customer / The shelves of a bookstore change quickly / Bookstores maintain a dynamic equilibrium / People are deeply involved in what makes a bookstore what it is / The value of visiting a distant bookstore / Bookstores and book shops