Used Books

The culture and business of used books has been important in Japan since around the 17th century. Today, the Jimbocho neighborhood of Tokyo has some 160 book dealers, many of them specialists, with a combined stock of 10 million volumes. Mass-market retailers that have simple systems for buying and selling used books are also part of the industry. On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, our theme is used books. We'll see how Japan's used book business has evolved in its own fascinating way.