Tuesday, April 15

My Bookstore, The Library

In ye olde list of cultural etiquette, Japan took a particular curve from England. You can spend hours in a bookstore or newsagent reading magazines/books with no sneers or grumbles from the staff. Whole books can be read, magazines scanned without the threat of having to buy it.

I feel a bit guilty knowing full well that I have no intent on making a purchase, but have been reassured again and again that there's no problem with it. One particular bookstore (thank you, Yurindo) has an excellent spread of Western reads, and tabloid snaps for those moments of guilty pleasure.

I guess it's like eating a grape in a supermarket in England, which would be frowned upon here.

Or is that just me?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

One of the things I enjoy the most when I go back to Bournemouth is going into Borders and spending as long as I want there without feeling pressurised to buy something. There is nothing like that here.By the way, I have forgotten again the title of the book about Oskar and the heavy boots and also who wrote it.
Mum xxx

phil-san said...

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer. If you have the chance, try Everything Is Illuminated - it's also excellent.

Anonymous said...

Have you noticed chairs by the corner of bookshelf in bookstores? You are free to use them if you feel tired standing up:)

Angie Anne said...

i encountered a great bookstore in my new neighborhood the other day, and from here on out i am planning to pass a lot of time doing exactly this.