The Complete Bookstore Compendium

Teihon Honya Zukan (Complete Bookshop Compendium), edited by the Honya Zukan Editorial Department with illustrations by Naomi Tokuchi. This volume, published by Natsuhasha in 2022, is based on the 2013 publication Honya Zukan and the 2014 publication Honya Kaigi, with new interviews and manuscripts added. It introduces various types of bookshops from all 47 prefectures of Japan, featuring text and detailed illustrations by Naomi Tokuchi that showcase their shelves, spaces, and the people who work there.

The initial interviews for Honya Zukan were conducted primarily from November 2012 to June 2013. The editors personally visited and selected familiar bookstores that could be called "local bookshops," such as those in front of train stations, in shopping arcades, inside shopping centers, in front of schools, and long-standing community stores, examining their shelves. The new edition includes additional stores interviewed since 2020, bringing the total number of featured bookshops to 76.

In the approximately 10 years since its initial publication, many of the featured stores have closed, relocated, changed their names, or reduced their scale. Rather than updating this information to reflect their current status, this book primarily retains their appearance at the time of the interview. The composition finds meaning in preserving the state of the bookshops as they were at that time and place, including the interior shelves, product selection, and even the names of the managers and staff.

In addition to introducing bookshops, the book also includes essays about the systems and work that support bookshops, such as "The History of Bookshops," "Fifty Years of Bookshops," "A Year in a Bookshop," "The History of Slips," and a "Bookshop Glossary." While it can be read like a walk through a store, observing the shelf layouts and book arrangements, it can also be read as a valuable document recording local bookshops that are gradually disappearing.

In the foreword, Junichiro Shimada describes bookshops as "friends and family." One might walk through a bookshop not to buy a specific book, but with the feeling of going to meet someone. Starting from this sentiment, the book captures the landscape of Japanese bookshops, including those currently operating and those that have already ceased to exist.

[Title] Teihon Honya Zukan
[Publisher] Natsuhasha
[Publication Date] July 25, 2022 (First Edition)
[Page Count] 397 pages
[Size] Approx. 128 x 182 x 31 mm / 500g
[Format] Softcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] TEIHON HONYA ZUKAN
[Author/Editor, etc.] Honya Zukan Editorial Department / Editor, Naomi Tokuchi / Illustrations, Hisashi Sakurai, Ayumi Nakagawa (Sakurai Office) / Book Design
[Printing/Binding] Chuo Seihan Printing Co., Ltd. / Printing and Binding
[ISBN] 9784904816417
[Condition] Used Book [7] Good (Cover: slight scuffing)
[Accessories] -
[Featured Books] -
[Related Exhibition] Teihon Honya Zukan Publication Commemoration Original Art Exhibition, Title, Ogikubo, Tokyo, July 15 – July 31, 2022

Naomi Tokuchi

Illustrator. In this book, she depicts the exteriors, interiors, shelves, and people working at bookshops across Japan.

She has continuously been in charge of illustrations since the 2013 publication of Honya Zukan, depicting the characteristics of each bookstore in detail. In this book, by combining text and illustrations, she records the space and atmosphere of the stores at the time of the interviews.

< Related Figures >

Naomi Tokuchi
Junichiro Shimada
Natsuhasha
Honya Zukan
Honya Kaigi