Bookstore's Unyielding Declaration

What if one day, bookstores disappear forever,

and you can no longer see physical books, heavy with the weight of words…?

Kumiko Taguchi doesn't just enjoy the books she loves;

she protects them like a mother. — Shuntaro Tanikawa

▍First Print Limited Edition Taiwan Exclusive

◆Taiwan Independent Bookstores' Unyielding Declaration. Handwritten collectible poster◆
Signed by over 20 independent bookstores in Taiwan,
personally penning Taiwan's unyielding bookstore declaration.

◆Exquisite Unyielding Bookmark◆
Metallic texture printing.
Two designs, one given randomly.

▍Recommended by Taiwan's Independent Bookstores
 
Special Recommendation by—
Jan Jheng-De (686), owner of DanShui He Book

Perhaps in the next decade, the position of bookseller will no longer exist.

Will those who guard books also disappear?

Kumiko Taguchi began her career as a bookseller in 1973, and the following four decades were like a pilgrimage.

Her pilgrimage was for atonement, to pass on the "passion" that her life in bookstores had filled her with to the next generation.

She moved from the small bookstore KIDDY LAND, witnessing LIBRO, a personalized bookstore, lead trends for twenty years, before finally becoming the deputy manager of the large bookstore Junkudo Ikebukuro branch.

She experienced a period when bookstores flourished, and then… in 2000, the bubble economy arrived, and Amazon landed in Japan. Like a beast, it tore at the Japanese bookstore industry, overturning the traditional model of bookstore operations.

At the same time, the new wave of the internet swept across the world. In the increasingly declining bookstore culture, physical books were no longer readers' first choice, and intangible e-books became the trend. Bookstores were rapidly moving towards extinction, losing their "products for sale."

However, as booksellers, they never gave up.

A bookstore is not just a place to sell books; it is a legacy of knowledge and spirit, delivering physical books, heavy with the weight of words, into the hands of readers.

They continue to fight with their meager strength, shouting out the "Unyielding Bookstore Declaration" against the cruel reality—

Based on her forty years of experience in bookstores, the author chronicles the rise and fall of the Japanese bookstore industry, delves into the difficulties faced by physical bookstores and paper books, and offers in-depth observations of the book market. Through conversations with frontline booksellers, she records real-life stories from bookstores.