书店不屈宣言

Is the Age of Bookstore Extinction Upon Us?

Observations from a Bookseller with Half a Century of Experience

Recommended with 4.5 Stars by Amazon Japan

Unveiling the Behind-the-Scenes of Bookstore Operations:

The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Bookstore Industry,

The Predicament of Bookstores and Print Books,

The Internal Workings of Large Bookstores

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The torrent of information technology is surging, and digitalization has a strong impact on print books. As a traditional sales channel for print books, bookstores have also been subjected to disruptive invasion by e-commerce. What struggles and efforts are the bookstore operators, who are currently struggling to survive, making?

“The Bookstore's Unyielding Manifesto” is the observation diary of Taguchi Kumiko, a top bookseller in Japan with half a century of experience. This book uses interviews with various staff members as a thread to connect the current development status of magazines, comics, light novels, children's books, and language books in the Japanese market, meticulously and comprehensively introducing the sales methods of books and the current living conditions of bookstore staff.

Author Taguchi experienced the golden age of the Japanese book industry, and was one of the three core figures of the phenomenal Japanese bookstore LIBRO during the "Imaizumi Era." However, she also witnessed the subsequent decline of the bookstore industry. Having weathered many storms, she remains full of fighting spirit, declaring with great passion and conviction that she will never yield! This undoubtedly injects a shot in the arm for the increasingly declining bookstore industry, the persevering bookstore practitioners, and readers who love physical books.

About the Author  · · · · · ·

Kumiko Taguchi

Born in Tokyo in 1947, graduated from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies with a degree in German.

Began her career as a bookseller at Kiddy Land Yaesu store in 1973. In 1976, she joined the book sales department of Seibu Department Store (later becoming one of the three core figures of the famous Libro bookstore), working at the Funabashi and Shibuya stores, serving as manager of the Ikebukuro store, and later as deputy manager of Junku-do Ikebukuro Main Store. She retired at the end of May 2019 and is currently an advisor to the Ikebukuro Main Store.

Her works include "Bookstore Chronicles" and "Bookstore Prosperity Records."