Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is a 2010 Japanese novel that was translated into English in 2023. It’s a relatively short book, and if I’m to be completely honest— one that I picked up solely for the cover’s comforting atmosphere. It depicts the entrance into a clearly well-loved bookstore, with a bicycle laid against its outdoor bookshelves, an umbrella holder by a bag of trash, and overgrown plants running along its walls… a cat is sleeping on a shelf, and another stands in front of the door. This cover perfectly encapsulates what the story feels like: a comforting place to return to.
The book follows Takako, a young woman whose heart has been cruelly shattered by her so-called boyfriend, who declares to her his engagement with his ‘real’ girlfriend. Feeling ashamed that she was living in a fantasy while believing it all to be real, she seeks the warmth of her bed covers to balm the ache in her heart. A whole season passes while she grieves the life she could’ve lived, until she randomly receives a phone call from an uncle whom she hadn’t seen in a decade.
Uncle Satoru, the owner of the ancient Morisaki Bookshop, is a man full of quirks. After forcing Takako to live and work at the bookshop for him, his story unfolds and becomes a catalyst for Takako’s self-discovery. In the beginning she is cold, and finds him to be simply another nosy relative— but as she opens up to him and his story, her life changes.
Satoru is a man of stories, as he not only runs a bookstore but seems to live only for it— he finds happiness in meeting the same customers routinely, and excitement in walking down the street to the same cafe he’s been a regular at for years. His simple way of finding joy is inspiring, and something that really touched me… oftentimes the hustle culture that society promotes prevents us from finding true meaning in our daily lives, but Satoru shows us that ambition isn’t the answer. Especially as a junior in high school who is currently feeling the looming pressure of college applications, his words soothed me at a time I needed it most: “I had so many aspirations. I flew all over the world only to end up back at the same place I’d known every bit of since I was a child. Hilarious, isn’t it? After all that time, I came back here. That’s when I finally realized it wasn’t just a question of where I was. It was about something inside me. No matter where I went, no matter who I was with, if I could be honest with myself, then that was where I belonged” (p. 50-51). This seemingly simple revelation fueled not just me, but Takako as well— she began to find a deep joy in reading, and found purpose in the everyday motions of living. Though there is an entirely different part to this book as well, concerning the lost wife of Satoru (and her return), this first section of the book is what moved me the most. It expands beautifully on the turmoil I’ve been feeling myself, and helped me to realize that, in reality, life isn’t about how much time you can maximize, or how much achievement you can gain… as Morisaki family in this novel showed me, it is about how you can enjoy the act of living. In times like these, I believe that that is an incredibly important aspect of our lives that we don’t consider enough. I will be forever grateful to this book for that essential reminder.
