NABC Store Manager's Diary & Yashinokidō Bookshop Diary — July 17, 2026 (Fri)

Last night I received an email. It was from a doujinshi (self-published) creator who visited from Mie Prefecture last month. During their visit they asked how to boost the ZINE scene in Mie — what should they do? I had never met them before; they were introduced to me by a former Shonan librarian I knew from my librarian days. Since I became the manager of this shop I've started carrying ZINEs by creators active in Nagoya and nearby, but I know nothing about the ZINE situation in Mie, so I was at a loss for what advice to give. I suggested they try consulting the prefectural library first. The email last night updated me on their progress, and what energetic people they are. In no time they connected with the Mie Prefectural Library, and also got in touch with a school librarian at a prefectural high school (that famous librarian who used to be at Tsu High School), and they reported they might be able to plan a ZINE-making workshop involving high school students. Amazing. I'm looking forward to how it develops. This Mie story doesn't directly relate to this shop, but it's fun to see the ZINE scene getting lively. The next story is even less related to the shop (though not entirely unrelated): the cancer-education event I pushed when I was a librarian, "Minna no Gan Kyōshitsu" (Everyone's Cancer Class), might start at a library in M City in Tohoku. I heard that a librarian from M City might visit to observe the "Minna no Gan Kyōshitsu @ Libraries" sessions that are already continuing at a library in S City outside Aichi Prefecture. (For more about "Minna no Gan Kyōshitsu," please read the ZINE 『ここは本をかりるだけじゃない図書館』.) This movement started after I was invited to M City last autumn to talk to librarians about the projects I worked on during my librarian days. Today the shop has few visitors, probably because of the heat. A little while ago someone came in sweating, looking for a photo book of Nagoya from the Showa 20s–40s (roughly the 1940s–1960s). Unfortunately the publisher is out of print and we have no stock. For now we'll try to find a used copy. I'm worried because turnout for next Saturday's event is far below what we need. I thought it was a good program, but reality isn't cooperating. I just have to keep working for another week. Lately I've been feeling down because of this attendance issue. Like purchasing books and ZINEs, events help shape the character of this shop. We need to keep steadily working to increase even a single customer who likes the shop enough to drop by once a year; otherwise the shop won't grow. If 300 people come once a year, that's an average of one customer per day. 600 would be two per day; 3,000 would be an average of ten per day. With an average spend around ¥2,000, that's about ¥20,000 in sales per day. It's tough. I have a business meeting scheduled shortly, and tonight there's a talk event by Kenji Kuroda. I'll add an update tonight. Someone from a new hotel opening near the shop came by to ask about placing books about Nagoya in the hotel's lounge. The interior work was almost finished, so they showed me the site. After hearing about the hotel's concept, the expected guests, and which books and comics the staff wanted, I returned to the shop and immediately started searching for titles. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to include ZINEs by Nagoya ZINE creators. From 7:00 PM there was a talk by Mephisto Prize author Kenji Kuroda, celebrating the publication of his first full-fledged mystery in 14 years, "Kanzen Misshitsu no Matryoshka" (The Perfect Locked-Room Matryoshka). Mr. Kuroda, who loves "puzzle-solving" as a theme, told us in detail about shops in Nagoya and nearby where you can enjoy puzzle-solving activities. Between stories he introduced several "boke questions" he posts daily on X, and everyone enjoyed solving the puzzles together. Since Mr. Kuroda is so into puzzle-solving, I asked at the end, "Would you create a puzzle-solving event using our gallery?" He immediately said, "By all means!" so we'll be planning that. If it's decided, puzzle fans please join!