NABC Store Manager's Diary — August 18, 2026 (Tue)

On my way to work I went to the nearest subway station, but for some reason the service had been suspended, so I had no choice but to go back home. I ended up arriving at work two hours late, at 3:00 PM. As usual there weren't many customers, but I placed a phone order with the publisher for books for an event (a new release by 飯田一史). Normally we order through Nippan's system, but because the number of copies was large and they needed to arrive in time for the event, unusually we ordered by phone. Doing things we don't normally do is tiring. A box from Nippan arrived for the first time in a while (though only a few books), so I opened the box and sorted them. I also used AI again to redo the event flyer. But it didn't follow my instructions properly, which made me a little irritated. Well, it's probably because my instructions weren't sufficient. Still, I don't want it to slightly edit the photos I told it to use or do unnecessary things. It also can't integrate with Canva. Ah — what a hassle. Well, I'm getting old, so it can't be helped. But the instructor said the finished material was easier to understand, so that was good. The design still looks very AI-like, so that's something I'd like to work on. It would be great if I could understand the key points to communicate and design them myself. Anyway, it doesn't matter who makes it — what's important is that it leads to attracting customers. While I was getting irritated with the AI, a customer from Gifu whom I hadn't seen in a while came in. They were pleased when I told them someone from the Tokai Yūri History Research Group would be giving a lecture at Medicos. Near closing time a creator from Gifu came to deliver a ZINE. I told them about Medicos' evening classes too. They have a photobook of Yanagase, so it should be a perfect fit. After closing, while waiting for Michineko — a former school librarian coming to Meieki via Saitama and Fukui — I had dinner at Heiwaen. While talking with the owner, Mr. Kosakai, he said he'd come buy his own book tomorrow! But I'm off tomorrow, so after finishing dinner I went back to the store, prepared the book he wanted, made the delivery note, and returned to Heiwaen. I'm grateful — finally a bookstore favored by Heiwaen! After that hectic business, I met up with Michineko and her former student Natsumi. We ate things like chicken wings at Sekai no Yamachan, got excited talking about the national conference of the School Library Research Association, and then parted ways safely.