“Oh, yeah. Why’d you eat bread with your curry today?” Mayumi changed the subject, noticing that the mood had gotten heavy.
It was because she’d read about it in a book, and it had stimulated her five senses. But Emiko couldn’t say that, since it would put them back on that touchy subject, so she feigned whimsy, saying that she’d just felt like it.
Sumika Bookstore’s sliding door was open wide, and there was a sign showing it was open for business that wasn’t there the day before. The wagon of sale books that had been under the camphor tree had been moved to right beside the entrance, ready for customers.
As Emiko and Mizuki crossed over the canal and stood in front of the store, Junka appeared from inside.
“Please, come in!” she greeted them. “And thank you for coming today, Miss Granddaughter, even though you must still be tired from your school trip.”
Junka had a friendly smile on her face. As she finished her simple greeting, she opened a cardboard box and took out a book.
“I thought you might like this, Ishiie-san. It just came today.”
The book was the size of a paperback, but it had no cover. Seeing it bound in a way that you wouldn’t often see at a bookstore, it came to Emiko—this was a book that hadn’t been released through a publisher, just like Sayaka’s book.
“This is just like the one I brought yesterday, isn’t it?” Emiko asked.
“Yep! This author is good. There was a store that carried their works when I was still in Tokyo, so I’ve been reading their stuff since then.”
Apparently, the writer lived in Okayama City, and Junka had decided she’d stock their books when she opened her own store.
The opportunity to experience another’s unrefined creativity was precious. It was something you couldn’t feel when buying the ordinary, mass-produced books. These self-bound books had this rarity to them, that if you didn’t buy them as soon as you found them, you’d never come across them again, making booklovers take notice of them too.
Already being well aware of the existence of that sort of work, Mizuki was scouring through the store’s books as she listened to them talk.
“Mizuki, you can rent a shelf here.”
“Yeah…”
She nodded, looking back to the shelves of paperbacks. Emiko had thought she’d be happier knowing that she could become a shelf owner, but her reaction wasn’t very enthusiastic.
“Which shared bookstore was it that you visited on your school trip?”
“It was called Frère,” Mizuki replied, using a formal tone that was much more polite than what she used at home. “It was in front of Shinjuku Gyoen Park.”
“Ahh, Sakurai-san’s store. It’s in a great location, isn’t it?”
“You know it?” Mizuki cried out, voice getting higher.
“Back when I was still in Tokyo, he told me about how renting out shelves worked. Neither of us had previous experience in working at a bookstore, so I figured I might be able to use him as a reference, his point of view included,” Junka explained, apparently having been to the store a number of times. “It’s interesting how Frère is a tourist info center at the same time, isn’t it?”
“When I visited, he told us all about what we should see in Shinjuku and what yummy restaurants were nearby where we were planning on going next,” Mizuki said excitedly, remembering how fun it had been.
“Come on, Mizuki. You’ve still got a chance at renting a shelf yourself if you do it now!” Emiko tried to encourage her once more, while they were talking so fervently, but Mizuki slipped up beside her to whisper in her ear.
“Grandma, even if I leave some books here, who in the world is going to come buy them? No one passes through this way.”
The way she was so cool about it was something she’d gotten from Mayumi.
“It’s fine,” Emiko said. “As long as there’s a sign out, people will notice. I noticed, didn’t I?”
Junka laughed, apparently having heard their secret conversation. “My store isn’t in as great of a location as Frère is, but I wanted something that would fill in the town’s blank spaces.”
As the median age of the area rose, more and more homes were ending up empty. Without anyone to take care of them, the buildings would age, which would cause more issues with crime and fire prevention, thus speeding up faster population. But by opening a store here, then more people might become interested in opening up their own little business. Junka had thought that far ahead.
“I’m hoping that I’ll be able to help out any other people who want to open their own small businesses like this, while working on getting the word out about this place. Plus, I’m planning on making this shop not just a bookstore but a community space as well. All the shelves have casters on the bottom, making them easy to move and so we can create an open area. I want to use that space for workshops,” she explained, demonstrating the movement of one of the shelves. “And if the store gets too cramped, then I’m thinking I can have that inner wall taken down and expand things into the dining room and kitchen.”
Despite how interesting Junka’s ideas were, Mizuki’s expression remained stiff. Maybe she wasn’t interested in becoming a shelf owner anywhere but in Tokyo.
“Renting a shelf and paying monthly will also help protect a local bookstore like this,” Emiko said, trying to show off the knowledge she’d gotten off the internet. But as she did, Junka crossed her arms and groaned.