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Letter From Osaka
As Japan’s bookstores die out, its government intervenes to boost literary culture
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Ms Tomoko Futamura (in red), 64, second-generation owner of the Ryushokan Bookstore in Osaka, listens as author Mitsuko Hirai interacts with readers at a session hosted at the bookstore.
ST PHOTO: WALTER SIM
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OSAKA/TOKYO – Ms Tomoko Futamura, the 64-year-old owner of Ryushokan Bookstore in Osaka, has earned an industry reputation as the bookseller who knows her customers best.
She chats with them to suss out their interests and needs, and then recommends titles she deems to be close to their hearts from the thousands of books that are stocked floor to ceiling within the humble 42 sq m shop opened by her father in 1949.
