Yamana Bookstore 〜 A long-established neighborhood bookstore collaborates to survive, developing events and proposals

Interview with Fumiaki Yamana, Managing Director of Yamana Bookstore

Yamana Bookstore has a long history.

What kinds of activities has Yamana Bookstore undertaken over the course of that long history?

We spoke with Fumiaki Yamana, Managing Director of Yamana Bookstore, about the bookstore’s history, its initiatives, and its aspirations for the future.

Yamana Bookstore began as an inn in Tamashima

Yamana Bookstore seems to have a long history. When did it begin?

Yamana (honorific omitted)

Actually, Yamana Bookstore began in Tamashima during the Edo period.

Tamashima was a port town, and we ran an hatago (traditional inn) there.

We don’t know exactly when, but in the late Edo period, the business apparently moved to Nishinoura in what is now Tsurajima.

There is a record of our delivering paper in 1874 to Tsurajima Seho Elementary School, which is now north of Yamana Bookstore.

There are no records showing when we started doing business after moving to Nishinoura, so we consider the 1874 delivery record to mark the founding of Yamana Bookstore.

It’s possible we were in business even earlier.

Yamana Bookstore expanded its stores as Mizushima developed

Has the company been a bookstore ever since it was founded?

Yamana

When we started, we weren’t exclusively a bookstore.

Along with books, we handled all kinds of things, including stationery and household goods.

Books gradually became our main business after the government designated local businesses to supply textbooks and other materials to schools during the Meiji period.

At that time, Yamana Bookstore became a designated supplier to schools in the Tsurajima area.

We still work with schools today, so we’ve been serving them for a very long time.

When did the company incorporate?

Yamana

The company was established as a corporation in 1955, after the war.

I’ve heard that in the past, we would ride bicycles to and from Tamashima Station (now Shin-Kurashiki Station), where freight trains stopped, to pick up books and other supplies.

We later switched to motorcycles and then small cars. By the 1960s, delivery companies had started making deliveries, which reduced the burden.

Another major factor was the development of Mizushima, with its industrial zone, urban area, businesses, and housing.

We opened a branch in Mizushima’s shopping district, making Yamana Bookstore available to even more people.
We also had more opportunities to supply stationery and other items to businesses.

Eventually, we opened several branches in the city, helping prevent residents from going outside the city to buy books.

Why the bookstore remains in Nishinoura despite focusing on school deliveries

Do you now have only the main store?

Yamana

Yes, we operate only one store, our main location.
From around the late 2000s, buying books online began to take off.

E-books have also become widespread. So, by 2014, we had closed all our branches and consolidated general book sales at our main store in Nishinoura.

We then focused on our original core business of supplying schools. It’s a difficult time for bookstores, but that’s precisely why I think we need to adapt to the times.

In addition to supplying schools, we also deliver magazines and other items to local cafes, hospitals, beauty salons, and barbershops.

However, with rising prices and the cost of paper—the raw material—soaring, magazine prices continue to rise even as sales decline. The burden on customers has increased, and some have reconsidered their purchases.

Why deliberately keep the main store as a general bookstore?

Yamana

The biggest reason is for local residents.

Many older people live around our main store in Nishinoura, and some aren’t comfortable using the internet. They want to be able to buy books nearby.

It’s also for children.

Buying books online can be a bit of a hurdle for children, since they may need a credit card or have to take a payment slip to a convenience store.

That’s why we keep the bookstore open for local children, too.

Children have fewer opportunities to pick up books, so I hope local kids will feel free to explore them.

The first books children are likely to encounter are picture books and children’s books.
That’s why we put a lot of care into our selection of picture books and children’s books.

I hear children’s manga is also struggling these days…

Yamana

It used to be common to see children come in with their pocket money to buy books and manga.

But today, even the four major boys’ manga magazines (Jump, Champion, Sunday, and Magazine) have seen their circulation decline, and their target audience has shifted toward adults.

Only a few school-year magazines are still published, such as Shogaku Ichinensei.
The only one doing well is probably CoroCoro Comic.

But even as manga sales have struggled, a hit series called Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba came along.

We stock the collected volumes, and it’s honestly been a joy to see children coming into the store with their pocket money again for the first time in a while.

Demon Slayer is hard to get hold of, and even borrowing it from the library can take a very long time.

But local children were surprised to learn we had it in stock, saying, “I can’t believe a small local shop like this has it!”

But Demon Slayer has now ended, so I feel sad thinking that the children may eventually stop coming in.

I hope another hit series comes along…

Kurashiki City Bookstore Cooperative is an organization where small local bookstores work together to survive

Yamana Bookstore is a member of the Kurashiki City Bookstore Cooperative. What kind of cooperative is it?

Yamana

As its name suggests, the Kurashiki City Bookstore Cooperative brings together bookstores based in Kurashiki City.

It is made up mainly of bookstores like ours that supply textbooks and library books to local schools.

They are all small, long-established bookstores. Our company has been involved since the cooperative was founded.

There are bookstore cooperatives covering wide areas, such as entire prefectures, across Japan. But Kurashiki was the first in the country to establish a community-based bookstore cooperative at the municipal level.

As I mentioned earlier, book sales have declined with the arrival of large bookstores and the spread of the internet and e-books. I think small, traditional neighborhood bookstores like ours need to unite and explore ways to survive.

And the ways we’ve found to survive are through planning and proposals.
One event planned by the Kurashiki City Bookstore Cooperative is the Kurashiki Book Marche.

Another initiative the cooperative proposed to the city is the New First-Grade Reading Promotion Program.

Book Marche creates connections between Kurashiki schools and publishers

What is the Kurashiki Book Marche?

Yamana

The Kurashiki Book Marche is an annual event organized by the Kurashiki City Bookstore Cooperative since 2011.

Unfortunately, it could not be held in 2020 due to measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19…

The Book Marche is an event open only to schoolteachers.
Any teacher can attend, including those in charge of school libraries.

We display books we recommend, but that’s not the only purpose.

Publishers also take part in the Book Marche.

An important goal is to give teachers working in education and people from the publishing industry a chance to talk with each other.

Teachers and publishers hardly ever get the chance to talk, do they?

That’s why we hope they’ll use it as a valuable opportunity to exchange information.

In 2019, 44 publishing companies took part.

Are events like the Book Marche rare across Japan?

Yamana

Yes. It’s unusual nationwide, and has attracted attention from both publishers and schools.

Some publishers have even taken the initiative to participate, saying, “We’d be delighted to travel to Kurashiki!” We’re very grateful.

Two schools in Mabi lost their entire school libraries in the July 2018 heavy rain disaster.

At that time, around 40 publishers who had participated in the Book Marche donated approximately 6.5 million yen worth of books free of charge.

I think the reason they donated so many books despite the publishing industry’s downturn was the connection between publishers and the Kurashiki community fostered through the Book Marche.

The Japan Children’s Book Publishers Association also donated many books.

That’s another reason I’m glad we organized the Book Marche.

The New First-Grade Reading Promotion Program was born from cooperation between the bookstore cooperative and the city

What is the New First-Grade Reading Promotion Program?

Yamana

The New First-Grade Reading Promotion Program creates a book corner exclusively for first graders in elementary school libraries, stocked with recommended books carefully selected by the mayor.

First graders may find it difficult to choose or borrow books when older students are around.

They also have few opportunities to see new books.
It would be a shame if the first books they borrowed were all worn-out ones.

The program was launched to address these issues and help children feel closer to books and develop a love of reading.

The New First-Grade Reading Promotion Program grew out of communication between us booksellers and the city through the Book Marche.

For small bookstores to survive, bookstores and the city must work together and make proactive proposals

What are your aspirations for the future, or things you’d like to try?

Yamana

Honestly, these are difficult times not only for small bookstores like ours, but also for large bookstore chains operating nationwide.

Simply lining up books and waiting for customers is passive, and I don’t think it will work.

I believe small bookstores can survive in these times by working together and staying closely connected to their communities.

That means working with the city’s education administration and making proactive proposals.

Local bookstores need to become a presence that quietly supports the community’s education administration.

Initiatives like the Book Marche and the first-grade reading promotion program have already produced results, and I believe this is the way for small bookstores to survive.

From the Writer

Yamana Bookstore has been dealing in books since the early Meiji period.

Over its long history, it has weathered many changes, including rapid economic growth, the bubble era, the spread of the internet, and the digitization of books.

Yamana Bookstore has adapted flexibly to these changes and survived.

And to survive in the years ahead, bookstores across the city are working together.

They organize initiatives such as the nationally unusual Book Marche and make proactive proposals to the city.

Books are essential to education administration.

Behind the community’s education administration is a long-established bookstore that quietly supports schools and the city.

Company information: Yamana Bookstore Co., Ltd.

Organization name	Yamana Bookstore Co., Ltd.
Industry	Retail (bookstore)
Representative	Yamana Yasuhiro
Year established	Established: 1953; founded: 1874
Address	33 Nishinoura, Tsurajima-cho, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture
Contact	086-445-1111
Website	Yamana Bookstore, specializing in wholesale sales

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