Letter From The Bureau Podcast
Japan fights to save its beloved bookshops
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Mr Ken Saito, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, visits Ogaki Bookstore at Azabudai Hills in Tokyo for a dialogue with bookstore industry stakeholders on April 16, 2024.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe, about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises.
The Japanese are sentimental about bookstores, viewing them as precious communal spaces that do more than just sell books.
And yet, fewer and fewer are going to these stores, in line with global trends.
What is more surprising is how the Japanese government has decided to seize the problem by its horns, with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry setting up a taskforce to look into the matter, even as the bookshops themselves are striving to find fresh ways to appeal to customers.
In this episode, ST’s foreign editor Li Xueying chats with Japan correspondent Walter Sim to discuss why the Japanese government has decided to be so interventionist.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:59 One in two Japanese read “less than one book” every six months
3:26 Why the Japanese are sentimental about bookshops
6:15 A “psychic” bookseller in Osaka
10:06 Laments at shuttered shops but it’s too late
12:15 Taking action
17:12 Walter’s favourite bookshops in Japan
Read Walter Sim’s article here: https://str.sg/ucaR
Produced by: Li Xueying ( xueying@sph.com.sg
Edited by: Fa’izah Sani
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