I’m going to start my comments about Satoshi Yagisawa’s Days at the Morisaki Bookshop with a little background, including a lengthy quote from the translator, Eric Ozawa. This was an award-winning book and hit movie in Japan. Most of the book takes place in Tokyo’s Jimbocho neighborhood, home of more than 170 bookstores, most of them used bookstores. Ozawa’s note says, “When Satoshi Yagisawa’s novel debuted in Japan, it won the Chiyoda Prize, named after the district that is home to Tokyo’s beloved Jimbocho neighborhood of bookshops. In the course of the story, he catalogs the many pleasures of reading: the joy of discovering a new author; the hedonism of staying up too late to finish a book; the surreptitious thrill of getting to know someone by reading their favorite novel; and the freedom of walking into a bookstore and scanning the titles, waiting for something to catch you eye.” Those of us who are readers will appreciate all those aspects of the book.

It’s also a story of love and regret. Twenty-five-year-old Takaro is in love with a co-worker, and she’s been dating him. When he casually comments that he’s getting married, she has an emotional breakdown, quits her job, and takes to her bed. She only moves on when her Uncle Satoru invites her to live on the second floor of his used bookshop, in return for a little morning help in the store. The bookstore has been in the family for three generations, and Satoru and his wife Momoko ran it until she left five years earlier.

Takaro feels as if she’s finally moved on when she discovers the world of books, and happily devours them. Then, her ex-boyfriend calls, and she turns to her uncle for help. He’s willing to help her express her feelings to the man, but when his wife, Momoko shows up, he’s unable to express his own feelings. In turn, he asks Takaro to befriend her, and find out why she left, and why she returned.

Comments about the book mention it as a love story. As a book lover, I enjoyed the neighborhood of used bookstores, the used book festival, and the celebration of books.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a small book about life, love, and uncertainty. I had so many questions when I finished, but my questions were really about the future of the characters, Takaro, her uncle and aunt. And, that’s life, isn’t it? I want to know about the future of the bookshop. What happens to the characters? Those are questions that go unanswered, but I guess I wouldn’t know the answers in real life either.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Translated by Eric Ozawa. Harper, 2023. 150p.

FTC Full Disclosure – Library book