NABC Store Manager's Diary — Thursday, August 27, 2026

Today was a workday, but I had to go out for a hospital visit from around 3:00 PM until about 6:00 PM. I arrived at the shop at 1:00 PM as usual. Then I noticed a few ZINEs stacked on the register counter (40 cm wide). Maybe a customer left them? I decided to leave them as they were. For the first time in a while we had three packages: one from Nippan, one from Transview, and one letter pack. I started by opening them. From Nippan came 20 copies of the book for the September 5 event. I was glad they arrived safely. But since the number of participants had already reached 20, I worried it might not be enough and hurriedly called the publisher to order more. I'm not sure they'll arrive in time for the event. From Transview came a new essay collection by Mr. Tsujiyama of the bookstore "Title." The moment I opened it I was surprised—the binding was so beautiful I hesitated to touch it with bare hands. It looked as if it could be a new poetry collection from Tanka Kenkyusha. I quickly wrapped each copy in plastic and displayed them face-up. I didn't even want to make a display copy; they were all wrapped. I'm sorry, but I want them to be bought in pristine condition. The letter pack contained the latest issue of Tanka Kenkyu from Tanka Kenkyusha. Even a small shop like ours is grateful to receive it every issue. The books on the counter had been chosen by a pair of young people from Osaka. They were in Nagoya for work, I think, and found our shop while looking for bookstores on Google Maps. I'm very grateful they spotted us. When I returned from the hospital in the evening, a friend from a university hospital in Tokyo came to the shop. It's been years — we're connected through hospital library work. We talked about the public lectures they offer at their current university hospital. When I asked which lectures are popular, they said topics like dementia, sleep, and hearing loss are very popular. But that doesn't necessarily translate into an immediate increase in outpatient visits. Their hospital is famous for cochlear implants, and they even hold concerts by an ensemble made up of musicians who are cochlear implant users. They told me lots of fascinating stories. After closing, I went to a drinking party with Professor Noguchi from Aoyama Gakuin University and others near the west side of the station. We've decided to hold a school library talk event at our shop next February! Details to come. Please look forward to it.