[Feature: The Japanese Way of Resting] The Concept and Construction of a "Shop Where You Can Read Books"

2019/04/05

It has been four and a half years since I started a shop called fuzkue in Hatsudai, Shibuya Ward. I describe it as a "shop where you can read books."

Every day, people who come with books are quietly reading. I continue to find that sight beautiful. That is how I work.

What a "shop where you can read books" provides is a time where reading is not interrupted by anything, where you don't have to feel any hesitation, and where you can spend as much time as you like. It is a time that can be enjoyed as a luxurious and rich reward for oneself. I believe that if this is realized exactly as intended, it can be called the "ultimate reading time." For example, at home, you can read as much as you like without hesitation, but you don't know if you will be interrupted, and you might not feel it is a luxury. There are times when you can. If so, you could call that the "ultimate reading time." But can it always be that way? Being predictable is also essential. Because of this, lately I have been thinking only about movie theaters. A movie theater is a space designed to satisfy people who want to watch a movie comfortably and fully, and the people gathered there basically share the purpose of watching a movie. I say "basically" because people who aren't there for that do come, but movie theaters do not consider satisfying those who did not come to enjoy the movie (those who came to sleep or those who came to talk). I want the people gathered there to have mutual respect and spend their time with good manners. To achieve this, several rules are established. These protect the people who came wanting to watch a movie comfortably.

You can think of a "shop where you can read books" as the reading version of that. As with any place, you will understand what kind of experience it is if you come, and you won't know until you do. If you come to do something other than reading—whether it's talking, working, or studying—you will leave without ever understanding, and you will only feel restricted, so you won't understand even if you do come. Even if someone using it for a purpose other than reading enjoys themselves fully, that is merely a happy coincidence for both parties; it is not something we aim for, and we do not aim for it at all. I only think about satisfying those who come with the desire to read a book slowly. I only think about providing the best experience for those who have chosen the way of spending time called "reading a book" after finishing work or on a day off. So, how do we do it?

What is a "shop where you can read books" made of? Breaking down the elements, it looks like this: "Creating the shop / 'Preconceptions make the possible impossible' / Deciding on a location / Assessing the trade area / Working hard on self-building / Lining up books / Defining the shop / Declaring it properly / Clearly setting who to make happy / Establishing rules / Deciding the menu / Choosing the unrefined / Relying on words / Restricting freedom / Presenting a framework / Eliminating room for doubt / Making promises / Using positive words / Making solo customers the protagonists / Making it sustainable with 'those people' alone / Ensuring everyone can be equal / Reducing the cost of 'reading the room' to zero / Getting people to install the concept / Expressing words accurately / Nipping 'uncertainty' in the bud / Being with others / Creating a 'single person' who is not 'alone' / Fostering a sense of complicity / Making it properly unattractive / Creating a system for long stays that pleases 'everyone' / Deciding the scope of 'everyone' / Short story: 'Long Stays, Two Patterns' / Knowing the stay duration of 'slowly' / Setting prices / Solving things with money / Eliminating contradictions / Preparing means of payment / Behaving honestly / Letting people know your hand / Breaking away from dependence on food and drink / Receiving a reward of 1,500 yen / Making it so they cannot remain 'cheap customers' / Making it so they cannot use it carelessly / Making it so they cannot use it to exhaustion / Rotating seats without lowering satisfaction / Expressing joy through money / Maintaining order / Informing them before the entrance / Blocking unrelated people / Properly neutralizing / Restricting the usage / Moving far away from 'cafes' / Eliminating luck / Breaking the silence / Talking quite a bit / Controlling sound / Overturning the established order / Letting them grasp it with their own hands / Trusting understanding / Changing constantly / Not letting go of the axis / Thinking while walking / Creating the next fuzkue together."

This is the table of contents for the series "How to Create a 'Shop Where You Can Read Books'" currently running on the shop's website. It is just a table of contents, but I posted it here because it conveys the essence of what fuzkue is working on and how. If you feel you don't understand it from this, I hope you will go and read it. However, as of the end of February when I am writing this, these items only have titles and the main text has not been prepared yet, so they cannot be read. I will write them sequentially. Once I do, they will become available to read one by one.