Days at the Morisaki Bookshop - by Satoshi Yagisawa (Paperback)

About the Book

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has enjoyed a relatively easy existence, until the day her boyfriend Hideaki, the man she expected to wed, casually announces he's been cheating on her and is marrying the other woman. Suddenly, Takako's life is in freefall. She loses her job, her friends, and her acquaintances, and spirals into a deep depression. In the depths of her despair, she receives a call from her distant uncle Satoru. An unusual man who has always pursued something of an unconventional life, especially after his wife Momoko left him out of the blue five years earlier, Satoru runs a second-hand bookshop in Jimbocho, Tokyo's famous book district. Takako once looked down upon Satoru's life. Now, she reluctantly accepts his offer of the tiny room above the bookshop rent-free in exchange for helping out at the store. The move is temporary, until she can get back on her feet. But in the months that follow, Takako surprises herself when she develops a passion for Japanese literature, becomes a regular at a local coffee shop where she makes new friends, and eventually meets a young editor from a nearby publishing house who's going through his own messy breakup. But just as she begins to find joy again, Hideaki reappears, forcing Takako to rely once again on her uncle, whose own life has begun to unravel. Together, these seeming opposites work to understand each other and themselves as they continue to share the wisdom they've gained in the bookshop.

Book Synopsis

The wise and charming international bestseller and hit Japanese movie--about a young woman who loses everything but finds herself--a tale of new beginnings, romantic and family relationships, and the comfort that can be found in books.

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has enjoyed a relatively easy existence--until the day her boyfriend Hideaki, the man she expected to wed, casually announces he's been cheating on her and is marrying the other woman. Suddenly, Takako's life is in freefall. She loses her job, her friends, and her acquaintances, and spirals into a deep depression. In the depths of her despair, she receives a call from her distant uncle Satoru.

An unusual man who has always pursued something of an unconventional life, especially after his wife Momoko left him out of the blue five years earlier, Satoru runs a second-hand bookshop in Jimbocho, Tokyo's famous book district. Takako once looked down upon Satoru's life. Now, she reluctantly accepts his offer of the tiny room above the bookshop rent-free in exchange for helping out at the store. The move is temporary, until she can get back on her feet. But in the months that follow, Takako surprises herself when she develops a passion for Japanese literature, becomes a regular at a local coffee shop where she makes new friends, and eventually meets a young editor from a nearby publishing house who's going through his own messy breakup.

But just as she begins to find joy again, Hideaki reappears, forcing Takako to rely once again on her uncle, whose own life has begun to unravel. Together, these seeming opposites work to understand each other and themselves as they continue to share the wisdom they've gained in the bookshop.

Translated By Eric Ozawa

Review Quotes

"Ozawa's translation gracefully captures the author's whimsical and tender voice. Yagisawa has the right touch for lifting a reader's mood." -- Publishers Weekly

"The unadorned simplicity of Takako's voice is anything but subtle, but it's somehow winning in its guilelessness . . . . Days at the Morisaki Bookshop draws a strong connection between the empathy unleashed by great literature and Takako's growing sense of self-confidence and well-being." -- NPR

"The book's vibe makes it pleasant company for an afternoon in the park with a snack." -- Los Angeles Times

"Yagisawa's prose is clean and direct even as he describes the Morisaki Bookshop and the city that surrounds it with extraordinary care and detail. The characters are also compelling, but it is really the setting and the atmosphere that stand out in this novel. Readers will want to linger in this world. They will want more when this concise tale ends." -- Booklist

"Ozawa's translation preserves the drollness and buoyancy of Takako's first-person narrative of small pleasures and mysteries. A familiar romance about books and bookstores, told with heart and humor." -- Kirkus Reviews

"A slender book, but one rich in experience, exactly like the tiny, crammed Morisaki bookshop itself." -- New York Journal of Books

"Steeped in the ambience of a used bookstore as it is in the culture of reading." -- Yahoo News

"Thought-provoking, sincere, and honest." -- The Uncorked Librarian