or I’ve Found Another Happy Place
It’s still early days but I think it is pretty to safe to say I have just found another one of the 974 things that I like about Japan, more specifically, Tokyo.
I know I’m in the right city when there is a whole pedestrian-only street devoted to books.
New books, second-hand books, antique books, magazines (new and used), foreign language (that’s usually English in this case) and Japanese. Book stores with coffee shops, books stores without. Book stores so narrow that it’s difficult to squeeze between the shelves. Book stores neatly arranged and others with piles of books, reaching the top of the shelves from the ground. Book stores spread over so many levels they have both elevators and escalators. It was the perfect place to have been trapped yesterday when a thunderstorm started. Bookstore = best bunker ever.
The smell of the books, the bright covers, the different sizes, author names jumping out at me begging me to open their book and take it home. I would if only I could understand it. I saved a lot of money yesterday in not being able to read Japanese just yet. I’m still going with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory aided by Google Translate. This is the longest it has ever taken me to read.
In spite of not being able to understand much of what I was seeing, I do understand books. Their pages reach out to me and wrap me in them, taking me into another world, time and / or place. An opportunity for another perspective. Understanding the language adds to the experience but it is not necessary when entering a bookstore (or library for that matter). Ahh the smell….
Time stops.
It seemed to have this effect on quite a few people yesterday. It has been years since I have seen bookshops so full. There was not a single aisle free of people regardless of the size of the store. I went into as many as possible. They were browsing and buying. In some stores, there were aisles for electronic readers too so all book lovers were looked after.
I found a few English books and magazines and have come away with a 14 July 1961 Life Magazine featuring an article on Ernest Hemingway and his obituary. It’s well preserved in a plastic bag. I’m not interested in that. I bought it because I want to read the article. It’s the most expensive article I have ever purchased especially considering it originally retailed for 20 US cents and I’ve now parted with a few thousand yen. That’s clearly not all inflation. Must be a good article!
I also bought what is already one of my new favourite books every. I have always been a fan of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. I’ve read the books countless times starting with the Little Golden Book version right through to the grown-up classic versions. I now have a new Japanese version featuring manga-styled artwork. It is glorious.
While I really enjoy reading on the kindle, there are times when a book with pages is preferred. Since I’m not traveling at the moment, curling up on my couch with a beverage of some sort and one of my new purchases is something I’m looking forward to.
Not surprisingly, a few other books filled out my bag over the course of the day.
I will be back…
* Thanks to ARIA Hall of Fame band, Hunters and Collectors, for the title to this post; some old school Australia pub music. This song is from 1991. Watch it here. Listening to this has put me in the frame of mind for a barbecue…