Happiness in a Bookstore 本屋の中の幸福
I love books. So it’s not surprising that I find spending time at a
bookstore browsing through the stacks and stacks of books exciting. Not
the adrenaline-pumping excitement of a roller coaster, but something
less physical although not exactly mental or even intellectual. No. Not
intellectual, that would require a certain amount of THINKING, and it’s
not the thinking that stimulates me.
What is it? I think it’s anticipation.
Like watching a cooking show on the Food Network, just knowing that
there is so much information, so many stories, so many photographs
right before my eyes–what can I say? I think it’s wonderful! And
better than TV, all I have to do is reach out and pull a book from the
shelf to satisfy my hunger.
I have to admit that I don’t feel quite the same way in most
Japanese bookstores. Except for a few of the very largest ones…well,
Maruzen in the Marunouchi OAZO complex (near Tokyo Stn.)
primarily…the small cramped space of most Japanese bookstores
destroys the contentment I feel whenever I walk into the huge
superstores in America. The narrowness of small bookstores makes me
feel very self-conscious about browsing–I feel obligated to purchase
something. Of course, that’s what a bookstore should do–encourage
customers to purchase an item. However, unwanted obligation is quite an
unpleasant feeling, and it certainly shortens my trips to most Japanese
bookstores.
The Maruzen bookstore at Marunouchi OAZO is like Barnes & Noble
and Borders in America though. It’s wide floor space and the
availability of chairs creates an atmosphere that begins to resemble
the American superstores. It welcomes customers into its confines by
providing not bookstore space, but a space to browse through and read
books. It begins to resemble a library in fact–a library without the
heavy, formal silence. Perhaps you could say the atmosphere of these
stores is that of a library crossed with a cafe. Music plays in the
background as people chat over magazines, walk to and fro, sip on a cup
of coffee. These stores serve as public spaces where people can
socialize among the stacks and stacks of books.
One day left in Hawaii. I think I’ll spend it at the bookstore…
