In this project, book store owners from around the country, who come into contact with a variety of books on a daily basis, introduce "books that are perfect travel companions." We asked three people - Chiori Okumura of 1003, Shuichi Nakamura of SNOW SHOVELING, and Tetsuya Mori of Brackish Airport - to choose three books each and provide comments on each book. Books by people who have traveled, books that allow you to experience different ways of traveling, books that make you think about what traveling is... We hope you find a book you'd like to read while traveling, or a book that will make you want to go on your next trip.
1003 (Hyogo) - Three books selected by Chiori Okumura
Chiori Okumura
Owner of Bookstore 1003 in Sakaemachi, Kobe. I'm a slow reader.
Instagram: @1003books
X (formerly Twitter): @1003books
Reclaiming my little place in a strange place
Normally, I carry around a book I just grab from the shelf, but when I travel, I carefully select the books I take with me. Preferably a paperback, or even a paperback with a soft cover and not too thick and light. I read a little while I'm traveling, while drinking coffee at a passing coffee shop, or just a little in bed at a hotel before I fall asleep. I usually take along a book that I can read bit by bit in this way, a book that I can enjoy starting from any page. One of the things I enjoy when I travel is stopping by bookstores at my destination, so I don't have to worry about what to read on the way back. Reading a book on the road seems like the ultimate luxury, but I've recently been thinking that bringing the everyday habit of reading on a trip might be a necessary act to help me find my own little place in an unfamiliar place.
A honeymoon of travel and reading
"Reading a Book on the Train" (Author: Junichiro Shimada, Publisher: Seishun Publishing)
For me, the situation that makes me want to read is by far the train. It's strange how even a 10-minute ride can quickly get me immersed in the world of the book. This book, with its apt title, is a reading essay by the author, who runs a publishing company alone in Kichijoji, Tokyo. Perhaps because it is aimed at a specific audience of "relatives who don't normally read books," the author's words, spoken at eye level with the reader and interspersed with personal experiences, convey warmth. Each book is introduced in 3-4 pages, so it's nice to be able to open it and start reading. This was the first book I put in my bag when I went on a business trip to Tokyo this fall, and it became my companion on the road.
Open a book and explore a more distant world
"Cosmopolitans" (Author: Somerset Maugham, Translated by: Naotaro Tatsuguchi, Published by: Chikuma Shobo)
"I ask nothing of my readers except that they find these stories entertaining."
This book is a collection of short stories serialized in Cosmopolitan magazine between 1924 and 1929 by Maugham, who traveled all over the world. Set in various countries around the world, including Europe, the South Seas, Central America, China, Yokohama, and Kobe, Maugham does not depict the scenery or famous places of his travels, but human drama. The episodes that go a little beyond the everyday life of the narrator and the people he interacts with are light-hearted and witty, but at the core of them is the author's boundless interest in people and his warm gaze, allowing you to immerse yourself in the world of the stories with ease. Stories with female protagonists, such as "The Birthplace," "Promise," and "Social Consciousness," are particularly emotional and leave a deep impression. Read two or three stories in bed at a hotel on your trip, relax your mind, and go to sleep.
Even when traveling, there is daily life and life goes on
"A Certain Life" (Author: miyono, Published by: mizōchi)
They all vary in age, occupation, and career. The only thing they have in common is that they live in Fukui Prefecture. This is a collection of interviews with 50 such people, spoken to by the author, who lives in Fukui Prefecture. He asks the same questions to each of them, starting with "Where are you from?" and "Do you like Fukui Prefecture?", and going on to more personal questions such as "Do you ever get angry?" and "What was your turning point?" Not a single answer is the same, and as the interviews progress, the lives of the 50 people are revealed more and more, and the realism of the conversational format draws the reader closer.
Unexpected encounters on a trip can sometimes heighten the sense of the extraordinary, but both the person and yourself have a life before and after the encounter. Reading this book makes you realize such an obvious fact. This is a book you'll want to turn the pages of after returning home, thinking about the lives of the people you met on your trip.
1003
| address | ： | Hyogo Prefecture Kobe City Chuo Ward Sakaemachi-dori 1-1-9 Toho Building 504 |
|---|---|---|
| access | ： | Take the Limousine Bus Itami Airport Line from Osaka International Airport → Get off at Kobe-Sannomiya Station (about 40 minutes) → Transfer to the Tokaido-Sanyo Main Line and board at Sannomiya Station → Get off at Motomachi Station (about 1 minute) → Walk to bus stop 1003 (about 5 minutes) |
| business hours | ： | 12:00～19:00 |
| Closed Day | ： | Tuesday and Wednesday |
| web | ： | https://1003books.tumblr.com/ |
SNOW SHOVELING (Tokyo) - Three books selected by Shuichi Nakamura
Shuichi Nakamura
More than a "book lover," he is a "bookstore lover." His reading history has been biased, ranging from Murakami Haruki to American literature and counter culture. Without having worked in a bookstore, he founded SNOW SHOVELING BOOKS & GALLERY in Komazawa, Tokyo in 2012 as a complete amateur. He is still not sure what his goal is, so for now he is aiming to create "something that takes the form of a bookstore." In the fall of 2013, he launched the mobile bookstore project "SNOW SHOVELING BOOKS ON THE ROAD" as a "traveling bookstore."
Instagram: @shuputnik @snow_shoveling
X (formerly Twitter): @Snow_Shoveling
Traveling is an act of moving to an extraordinary place
This is just my personal opinion, but I think traveling is an act of moving to a place that is out of the ordinary. And from your place of stay, it is a good opportunity to think for a while about the world you are absent from (that is, your place of residence), or about the people you left behind. In that sense, a book that encourages self-reflection may inspire your travels. Try opening a book at the airport or on the plane, in a local cafe or on the beach, or in an unexpected moment of free time. Just as people remember something when they see something, they also (unexpectedly) remember something when they read something. And the memory of that reading has the power to even become a memory of the place, which is what makes books so interesting.
The reason we go on a journey
"On the Road" (Author: Jack Kerouac, Translator: Minami Aoyama, Published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha)
Your thoughts wander to a faraway place. Your heart beats with excitement at what may happen there. You meet people you don't know, and experience art you've never seen before. Isn't that the real joy of "travel" or "trips"? On the Road, a monumental American road novel that is incredibly long and has little dramatization like a documentary, teaches us the fundamental question of why people go on trips, and the human nature of all times to set off from where we are now to a world we have yet to see. It also makes us aware of the presence of something like a "thirst" that can only be found at a certain age. Whether it is an old wound or a fresh wound is another matter.
When you open a book, the door to your heart opens too.
"Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage" (Author: Haruki Murakami, Published by Bungeishunju)
In order to settle the trauma (or something like it) he suffered in his youth, the 36-year-old protagonist visits his four high school classmates one by one. It's like a journey of travel, but also a "journey of the heart" to face oneself. As readers turn the pages of this book, they will be immersed in the story of the journey from Tokyo to Aichi to Finland, while also accessing their own life (or their own story) in parallel. They may reach old friends, or something like love, failure, conflict, and even memories that are not listed on a number of random labels. It's a mysterious experience that can even become a pilgrimage for you. A reading journey with an unknown destination.
Recommendations for a "boring" trip
"Europe Boredom Diary" (Author: Juzo Itami, Published by Shinchosha)
This book by Juzo Itami, who seems to be both the original intellectual and the original city boy, is said to be the first essay (not just an essay) in this country. It is set in the 1960s, an era when it was difficult for civilians to travel abroad, and the young Itami wrote down what he saw, heard, and felt in the European countries he visited as an actor. It is like an encyclopedia of Western culture and customs, conveying trivial discoveries about the way people live, their activities, the food they eat, and the way they dress in light and witty prose. Each and every one of these things makes you want to try to imitate them, and to stretch yourself a little. If you are about to travel, it might be interesting to update this boring diary to a 2020s version.
SNOW SHOVELING
| address | ： | 2F-C, 4-35-7 Fukazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo |
|---|---|---|
| access | ： | Take the Airport Line from Haneda Airport → Get off at "Shinagawa Station" (about 19 minutes) → Change to the Yamanote Line and get on at "Shibuya Station" (about 12 minutes) → Change to the [Shibuya 82] bus and get off at "Fukazawafudomae" (about 23 minutes) → Walk to SNOW SHOVELING (about 1 minute) |
| business hours | ： | 12:00～19:00 |
| Closed Day | ： | Wednesday and Thursday |
Brackish Water Airport (Tottori) - 3 books selected by Mori Tetsuya
Mori Tetsuya
Born in Kitakyushu in 1986. Spent time in Indonesia and Chiba. Drifted ashore in Tottori in 2011. Since 2015, he has been running a bookstore called Brackish Airport, and has opened up his farm, called Brackish Airport Terminal 2, as an "edible park," where he opens up the "fruit" to all visitors. He is involved in a variety of activities, including farming, architecture, writing, selling roasted sweet potatoes, and buying and selling books.
Instagram: @kisuikuko.mori
X (old Twitter): @kisuiairline
The act of reading itself is a journey to learn about the breadth, depth, and variety of the world.
If encountering something and changing yourself is called a journey, then reading a book is also a kind of journey. Each book was written in a different time and place. When we enter a bookstore or library, we feel an overwhelming sense of excitement, perhaps because every book is right in front of us as the entrance to a journey into the unknown that transcends time and countries. We named our store "Brackish Airport" with the hope that people will continue to go out without fear, pick up a book and turn the pages. We believe that "reading" can be counted as one part of the journey to learn about the breadth, fluctuation, and depth of the world.
Be aware of the flow of time that is different from everyday life
"The Traveling Tree" (Author: Michio Hoshino, Published by Bungeishunju)
This is a collection of essays by photographer and essayist Michio Hoshino, who has lived in Alaska since 1978, living among the people, animals and plants of the far north. During his travels, he discovered a world filled with "enveloping silence" scattered throughout the vast land of Alaska. There, there is a world and flow of time that is completely different from the "society" created by humans. Hoshino calls this "eternal time." He says that it is "another great flow of time that has nothing to do with joy or sorrow."
Michio Hoshino's words have the power to bring the Alaska of that time before the reader's eyes and remind them that there is/was indeed an "eternal time" in the world that they have never experienced.
When you dream of "somewhere other than here"
Settlements (Author: David Spero, Published: Private Edition)
Since ancient times, there have been people who have dreamed of "somewhere other than here" and put it into practice. The photo book "Settlements" records the lives of people all over the UK who have seriously faced the question, "How should we live on this planet?", built their own homes, created low-impact lifestyles, and formed their own communities. The photos of each home and field, full of ingenuity, exude the joy of creating something with one's own hands. This book shows us an unknown "somewhere" that we can reach on our own two feet from "here" prepared by someone else.
A journey between languages
"Broken Japanese Delirium" (Author: Yoko Tawada, Publisher: Seidosha)
"When clothes are tight, people tend to forget that they are a foreign body against their skin. In fact, some people even come to believe that Japanese people are born with the Japanese language as their skin," says Yoko Tawada, who has lived in Germany and written novels in both German and Japanese, describing the distance between Japanese and the Japanese language.
She also said that when she left her native language, lived in a foreign language, and encountered Japanese again, "it was as if the Japanese I used long ago had died and been reborn in a different body." This is a collection of essays about the world she saw while traveling from country to country and crossing the boundaries between languages. This book will help you unravel the various assumptions that are tied to your skin and your native language.
Brackish Airport
| address | ： | 434-18 Matsuzaki, Yurihama-cho, Tohaku-gun, Tottori Prefecture |
|---|---|---|
| phone | ： | Take the Tottori Airport Limousine Bus from Tottori Airport → Get off at Matsuzaki Station (approx. 35 minutes) → Walk to Brackish Airport (approx. 4 minutes) |
| business hours | ： | 12:00～19:00 |
| Closed Day | ： | Wednesday and Thursday |
| web | ： | https://www.kisuikuko.com/ |
Both "travel" and "books" take you to unknown places. Why not pick up a book that catches your eye? We hope that this book will broaden your travel options and give you more perspective on travel.
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The contents published are accurate at the time of publication and are subject to change.
