In Japan, where many conventional bookstores have closed, a new business model sees people rent shelves in a store to sell their books “I’m holdin

Is this the future of bookstores? At these in Japan, anyone can rent a shelf to sell books

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2024-11-08 18:00:02

In Japan, where many conventional bookstores have closed, a new business model sees people rent shelves in a store to sell their books

“I’m holding an illustrated book of cheeses,” says a delighted Tomoyo Ozumi, a customer at a growing kind of bookshop in Japan where anyone wanting to sell their tomes can rent a shelf.

The concept brings back the joy of browsing real books to communities where many bookstores have shut, and gives readers more eclectic choices than those suggested by online sellers’ algorithms, its proponents say.

“Here, you find books which make you wonder who on earth would buy them,” laughs Shogo Imamura, 40, who opened one such store in Tokyo’s bookstore district of Kanda Jimbocho in April.

“Regular bookstores sell books that are popular based on sales statistics while excluding books that don’t sell well,” says Imamura, who also writes novels about warring samurai in Japan’s feudal era.

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