Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa| Book Review

For someone who rarely reads from the Japanese author, recently I began exploring them again. Ever since I read before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, I want to read works from lesser-known Japanese authors. When we heard Japanese authors, we certainly heard of Murakami and Kazuo Ishiguro but there are more than just those two. There are authors who writes light-hearted topics and these are the so-called popular literature. One of prominent author is Satoshi Yagisawa, who writes Days at the Morisaki Bookshop.

Days at the Morisaki bookshop tells a story of 25 years old, Takako who recently gone through awful breakup. In her midlife-crisis, his uncle Satoru reached out to ask her to live in the bookshop. This bookshop is called Morisaki and located in Jimbocho, a district known for its used books. There is something intriguing about this bookshop and the people around it. Takako, while trying to heal from her breakup, she ended up helping her uncle and bringing positive energy in her surrounding.

This novel is a very short read and quite cozy. For those who had gone through major breakup, being lost, have their life crumbling apart, this book gave you hope. Just like Takako that eventually finds herself again after spending time with her uncle, Satoru. Sometimes, the answer is around us and it could be in a little things in life. Just like what Takako said to Wada, a regular customer at the bookstore.

“If I’d never gone to the shop, I’d still be living my life in a daze. I met
so many people there, and I learned so many things, and, of course, there
were all of the books I discovered. I feel like I finally learned to see
something a tiny bit valuable within myself. That’s why I know that I’ll
never forget the days I spent at the bookshop.”

Personally, the book has a lot of resonance with me. Takako copes with sleeping a lot and it was something I did too once. It was a form of escapism that by sleeping, days are skipped so we don’t have to face the realities. The book also discusses about the love to reading and how reading can be a form of therapy. Book can help us heal and just like how it healed Takako and inspired her to move forward with her life.

Takako and Saturo, complements each other. Saturo has been through quite a bit yet only revealed a little bit more when Takako begin to give a space to Saturo to speak his mind. While Saturo might not have the look and give the impression of someone with a carefree mind, from his experiences, he was actually an insightful person. A lot of the times, the conversation with Saturo always has this subtle dance of spoken truth.

“It’s funny. No matter where you go, or how many books you read, you
still know nothing, you haven’t seen anything. And that’s life. We live our
lives trying to find our way. It’s like that Santōka Taneda poem, the one that
goes, ‘On and on, in and in, and still the blue-green mountains.’ ”
“Uncle?” I thought that this might be my opportunity to ask the

This book can be finished in a day or over the weekend if you will. It’s short and sweet with cozy atmosphere that perhaps rekindle your love to reading again. Unfortunately, the book was a little rushed and I wished Saturo’s characterization was explored more. Sometimes I think there is a lost translation in this book because usually with translated book, there is a sense of poetic prose that can’t be quite captured in English words or even have its equivalent. Still, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop can be a gateway for you to explore Japanese authors who writes in similar theme.