Morioka Shoten: The Japanese Bookstore that only sells one book

If you had a bookstore that only sold one book, which one would you sell? A difficult question for those who like to read, however for the founder of this bookstore, Yoshiyuki Morioka, it is not a problem!

Located in the Ginza neighborhood in Tokyo, Morioka Shoten is a unique bookstore since it sells one book a week, although it includes the different publishers in which said book is published. Founder Yoshiyuki Morioka carefully selects the title to be displayed each week, and the venue also hosts exhibitions in connection with the book of the week. For example, if a book mentions a specific flower, that flower could be displayed in the store. Or you can display art that relates to the book’s themes. Customers can buy that week’s book or wait until next week for a new literary option that includes novels, manga, biographies, and graphic novels, among others.

Yoshiyuki Morioka opened Ginza Bookstore on May 5, 2015. Before launching his own single-book bookstore, Morioka had already worked in a bookstore for eight years. Knowing a little about the book business one day he decided to open his own bookstore independently and this is where he first came up with the innovative idea of ​​the Morioka Shoten bookstore.

You can click here to go to his Instagram account and be informed of which book will be exhibited in the week!

The Morioka Shoten Bookstore is located on the ground floor of the Suzuki Building in Ginza , a place with a very special meaning in the literary world. Built in 1929, the building was once the home of Japan’s propaganda publisher Nippon Kobo , producers of the leading magazine of the time, Nippon . Morioka mentions that for many the building is like the place that laid the foundation for the modern publishing industry in Japan and that is why he chose it to open his bookstore.

While many shoppers visit independent bookstores to browse the stacks and check out the store’s many selections, Morioka Shoten offers book lovers a different kind of experience as they aim to make their bookstore a place where authors, people from publishers and other related parties can meet and live together.

Mai Miyake , an author and artist whose book and art have previously been featured in Morioka’s bookstore commented in an interview that it’s like it’s Morioka’s (the founder’s) house and she’s like the space guest and that the people who visit the store is as if they were the guests who come to have tea or greet them. The store has a very welcoming atmosphere and you can talk to the writers in person, as they often attend their book showings and openings as well.

They not only include titles of works in Japanese but a wide variety of titles including Tove Jansson ‘s The True Deceiver , Hans Christian Andersen ‘s Fairy Tales , Mimei Ogawa ‘s Tsukiyo To Megane (Moon Night and Glasses), Karachi No Moto (Source of Form) by Akito Akagi , Koichi Uchida , and Takejiro Hasegawa and Karl Blossfeldt : Working Collages, a collection of plant photographs by Karl Blossfeldt.

The store has been open for about seven years now and it seems that Morioka’s business model is working even in the face of the COVID pandemic. People come from all over the world to visit this unique bookstore and partake in the personalized and immersive experience the store offers.

What do you think of this bookstore concept? Do you think this is the future of bookstores? Would a store like this work in your country? Tell us in the comments!