Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is the debut novel by Japanese writer Satoshi Yagisawa. First published in Japan in 2010, it follows a young woman who rebuilds her life while living and working in her uncle’s second-hand bookshop in Tokyo’s Kanda–Jinbōchō district. The book won the 3rd Chiyoda Literature Prize and became a national bestseller. An English translation by Eric Ozawa was released worldwide by Harper Perennial in July 2023.
Plot
Takako, a 25-year-old office worker, is devastated when her boyfriend Hideaki announces he is marrying someone else. After quitting her job, she retreats to her apartment until her divorced uncle Satoru invites her to move into the cramped second floor of the Morisaki Bookshop, his bookstore in Jinbōchō. Surrounded by musty stacks and eccentric regulars, Takako slowly rediscovers pleasure in reading and begins to heal.Takako gradually settles into life at the bookshop, and reconnects with Satoru. When Hideaki suddenly contacts her, Takako tells Satoru how poorly her ex-boyfriend treated her. Satoru insists that they confront Hideaki to extract an apology. Hideaki refuses to acknowledge them, but Takako is able to finally express her anger and unhappiness towards how Hideaki took advantage of her. Finally able to emotionally move on, she finds a new job at a more laid-back design firm, finally prepares to leave the bookshop, and waves a grateful goodbye to Satoru, thankful for her new life.
About one year after Takako moves out, Satoru's estranged partner Momoko appears. While the couple refuses to acknowledge their time apart, Takako grows curious and resents Momoko for abandoning Satoru. Takako also meets a young man at the local cafe, who she recalls was a regular customer at the Morisaki Bookshop and discovers that he is pining after his ex-girlfriend.
While she and her aunt reacquaint, Momoko invites Takako to a trip in the mountains, where she reveals her cancer as the reason for her disappearance, so as to avoid hurting Satoru in the event of her death. As Momoko and Takako grow closer, Satoru also learns and comes to terms with Momoko's health crisis.