Independent filmmakers poached to be librarians — A frameless bookstore in Okinawa

Text and photos / Excerpted from the book “Traveling in Okinawa, A Quiet Life,” provided by Maison Publishing

Ms. Akemi Kawabata has a “mind map” in her head. Give her any book at random, and she can instantly name several related titles, just like branches interconnected. Ms. Kawabata’s current “favorites” are displayed on the store shelves — from foreign novels and picture books to publications from small magazines and publishers across Japan, covering an incredibly diverse range.



According to her, she has always been a book lover. Whenever she traveled abroad, she would definitely visit unique bookstores or libraries. Before she turned 25, she worked in independent filmmaking, and her life revolved entirely around movies. The intense workload eventually took a toll on her health. It was around that time that someone approached her — she held a librarian qualification — to offer her a job. She figured her film career had reached its peak anyway, so she switched to being a librarian and stayed in that role for seven years. Though she loved books, she never imagined opening her own shop. So why did she change her mind? “I suddenly felt I could do it. There’s always a gap between the ideal job and real life, and on top of that, my health wasn’t great. Since I had to work anyway, I might as well do something I love. Having visited so many bookstores before, ideas naturally started coming to me.”

In March, she quit her job as a librarian and began searching for a storefront. She had always been doing her homework on the details of running a bookstore, but it wasn’t until after leaving her job that she could seriously start preparing. She obtained an antique dealer’s license, found suppliers, laid flooring, painted walls, and even hammered together tables herself. Friends and customers also contributed desks and bookshelves. In October 2010, her independent bookstore, selling both new and secondhand books, opened. Typical bookstores are just places to buy books, where there are rarely opportunities for interaction between authors and readers, or between staff and customers. So, she actively organized events, hoping to turn her bookstore into a place where people could meet writers and satisfy the local community’s thirst for knowledge.



“In my mind, I’ve already cast aside the framework of what a bookstore should be.” One Christmas, she hosted a live reading event themed around “Mori no Ki” (Note 1), even bringing in several fir trees to decorate the store like a forest. If the event theme was picture books, she would even invite the original authors to help recreate the world described in the books.

Indeed, this shop can no longer be defined simply as a “bookstore.” Every book selected by Ms. Kawabata can serve as a “turning point” that changes lives. Starting from here, the world becomes broader, and stories between people unfold.

Translator’s note
1. Kenji Miyazawa, a poet and fairy tale writer from Japan’s early Showa era, best known for his work “Night on the Galactic Railroad.”