Japan: “Shared Bookstores Let Bibliophiles Meet Owners With a Passion”

From Nikkei Asia:

Shared bookstores, where each shelf is operated by a different owner, are cropping up in Japan’s big cities, allowing book lovers to find new books and interact with each other.

Passage, a shared bookstore in Tokyo’s Jimbocho district, popularly known as “book town,” has sets of shelves named after 31 streets in France, inspired by the shopping streets of Paris.

Some are devoted to well-known writers and poets such as Hisashi Inoue and Machi Tawara. Books about perfume are lined up on one shelf alongside test tubes filled with scented liquid, while other shelves have mysterious themes.

[Clip]

Many bookstores in Japan are struggling to stay afloat as people read fewer physical books, yet the number of shared bookstores is rising across the country. It seems that opening a shared bookstore is not too difficult — it requires only shelves and renters.

Learn More, Read the Complete Article

Filed under: News