Abstract

The heat within books warms their readers. People gather around books. A bookstore is like a bonfire. This book describes how to arrange a bookstore’s shelves, how to speak with customers, and management skills, as well as what to aim for through work, how to apply your uniqueness, and what kind of work to create. Eighteen famous booksellers from throughout Japan, including Atsushi Horibe of Kyoto’s famous bookstore Seikosha, talk about work and life.

Reviews
“I learned a lot from the bookstore’s analogy of a bonfire and how the people who work in bookstores have thought about and practiced what they have done to keep the fires of book-related culture burning.” ―Masafumi Goto, musician

“The world is full of talk about how people will be unhappy unless the economy is on the upswing. However, what is conveyed between the lines of this book is that people do not work only for money.” ―Mitsuharu Fukumoto, bookseller

“What the 18 people have in common is a sense of entrapment and a sense of mission. Both feelings are equally strong, and they are conflicted because of them.” ―Koyuko Kimura, essayist

Author’s Information

Born in 1982 in Hyogo Prefecture. He is the president of "Dokushoshitsu," which connects books and people. He is the concierge of humanities at Umeda Tsutaya. After graduating from university, worked at Kosakusha Co., Ltd. before joining Culture Convenience Club Co. He has participated in Umeda Tsutaya since its launch. His major work to date includes the book selection project "Reading School" at the bookstore and a reading course at the NHK Culture Center Kyoto Classroom. He also writes reading essays for web media such as "Books are my favorite. and other web media. He is the author of "Sennen no yomitosho: seimei o kaeru hon tono tsukiai (Millennium Reading: Encounters with Books that Change Lives)" (Seibundo Shinkosha).