Tokyo bookselling

From Asahi Shimbun. According to the report, Tokyo's Kanda-Jinbocho district, an area in the middle of Tokyo full of old shops (some over 125 years old) and narrow alleys, and for Japanese bibliophiles a veritable holy land, is in trouble.Measured by the number of businesses operating there it isn't bad, but in terms of sales it is low. And the problem: Japanese do more talking and texting these days than they do reading. A generation ago they spent their extra cash on novels; now it goes to pay the phone bills.

Another complaint: These days, there aren't many titles that you can't get through your local big-box bookstore or by searching through Amazon's virtual catalogue.

Kanda has now become a tourist destination with an increased 'stroller' traffic, but with the
inevitable increase in business opportunities others are moving in. Kanda has now become a tourist destination. Gesturing with his thumb towards the recently opened noodle shop next door, one owner says, "We have nothing personal against them, but their gaudy advertising doesn't really go very well with the look of the neighbourhood ... (and) no one wants to smell food when they're browsing for books."

Though others have come in to occupy the prime locations, 30 new bookshops have also moved in, but mostly on the first and second floors and on the back alleys because ground floor units are out of reach for them. The new stores target collectors of anime, manga, children's books and various subculture literatures. And many are internet merchants.

Scoffs an old timer, "Young people prefer visual things that are easier to understand ... (they) see a book as more of a decorative element than reading material." And adds, "They don't see how much they're racking up every month on telephone charges. But with a book you know exactly how much it will cost you -- the price is on the cover.''

Ouch.

Full story: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200711170062.html