Bookstores Maintain a Dynamic Equilibrium

Chapter 1: The Joys of Bookstores (15)

Yet, strangely, even as the books are replaced, I feel that the bookstore remains the same bookstore.

This does not mean that the architecture, interior, or fixtures remain unchanged. Although the books are constantly being swapped out, the shops I have thought, "I love this bookstore," often remain just as beloved next month, the month after, next year, and the year after that. Customers, too, naturally want the books to be refreshed, but they also want the bookstore's unique character to remain unchanged.

This is much like the fact that even though all of a human's cells are replaced within a year, the person remains the same person. This was a topic that came up in a conversation I once had with Koichiro Shima, co-manager of "Bookstore B&B."

Shima In the case of a bookstore, it never ends, does it? It is a job where you are constantly creating a "provisional number one" every single day.
Uchinuma That is true. Bookstores never end. They really never end. Customers look forward to that kind of change, and it is quite different from a restaurant that provides a consistent flavor. Of course, as a whole, it might be better if the "consistent flavor"—the idea that you can always find this kind of excitement when you go there—remains unchanged, but everything in the shop is indeed changing.
Shima Exactly. A "dynamic equilibrium" bookstore edition. (...) Different parts are replenished one after another, and while the bookstore as a chassis or box remains the same, the cells inside are constantly changing. That is the image, isn't it?

Koichiro Shima, "Why Ideas Are Born When You Go to a Bookstore" (Shodensha, 2013), pp. 168-169

Eighty thousand books are published annually, and the number of titles continues to grow. Books arrive every day, sold books pass into the hands of customers, and unsold books are returned. In that endless flow, we try to bring the shop's bookshelves and display tables as close as possible to what we believe is the best state at that moment. This work continues forever; there is no end. A bookstore is just like a living thing.

The term "dynamic equilibrium" that Shima mentioned is truly a term for living things. It became widely known through the bestseller "Between Living and Non-living Things" by biologist Shin-ichi Fukuoka. Fukuoka was fascinated by the research of a biochemist named Rudolf Schoenheimer. By using molecular isotopes to track metabolism, Schoenheimer demonstrated that substances such as the proteins that make up the body are being replaced at an incredible speed. Expanding on Schoenheimer's concept of a "dynamic state" of life, Fukuoka redefined life as a "flow in dynamic equilibrium" using the term "dynamic equilibrium."

If a bookstore is also a "flow in dynamic equilibrium," why is it that the bookstore can maintain its identity even though the books are being replaced? In the chapter following his redefinition, Fukuoka writes the following.

Life is a flow in dynamic equilibrium. The proteins that make up life are broken down from the moment they are created. This was the only way for life to maintain its order. However, why can life maintain its original equilibrium while being constantly broken down? The answer lies in the complementarity embodied by the shape of proteins. Life is supported by the complementarity of shapes spread throughout its interior, and through this complementarity, it is able to maintain a state of dynamic equilibrium within a constant flow.

Shin-ichi Fukuoka, "Between Living and Non-living Things" (Kodansha, 2007), p. 178

Just as proteins are created and then broken down, books arrive and are sold in a bookstore. That is the "only way for a bookstore to maintain its order." If books were not replaced, a bookstore could not function.

And what kind of book should be placed in the spot where one book has disappeared? It can be said that what decides this, even in a bookstore, is the "complementarity of shapes spread throughout its interior." What kind of books were in that place, and what kind of books were placed in front, behind, to the left, and to the right to make the sales floor work? How did they complement each other? What kind of context did they create? What kind of classification, what kind of awareness of issues, and what kind of seasonal feel did they create? Simply put, it is the accumulation of book selections and the assortment that the shop has built up until now.

The people who work at the bookstore are the ones making this decision every day. Their role is to steer the "flow in dynamic equilibrium" while observing the "complementarity of shapes spread throughout the interior" of the shop. Through that steering, the "provisional number one" of that bookstore's unique character is created.

*Reprinted from "A Reader for Future Bookstores" (NHK Publishing), pp. 43-47