NABC Manager's Diary — Friday, October 16, 2026

Today we had a variety of customers visit the shop. That said, the majority were visitors to Beniko's photo exhibition in the second-floor gallery. The first-floor Cafe River and the book section were quiet, a marked change from yesterday. Still, two people returning from a business trip who were about to board the Shinkansen bought three ZINEs and said, "I'll read them on the Shinkansen on the way home." A young woman in a kimono and zori, carrying a large suitcase, came to see Beniko's exhibition. When we took her suitcase at the register and talked, she turned out to be Kokeshi Tomita, who travels the country—visiting farming villages and hot-spring towns—playing a single shamisen. She's an itinerant performer. What a surprise. Meeting all kinds of people is one of the great things about Beniko's photo show; I'm very grateful. We were closed Monday and Tuesday, and over yesterday and today I've been preparing some new events; three of them are now public. I'll add links later. By the way, Aeza stopped by for the first time in a while—also to see Beniko's photo exhibition. Aeza once worked as a lighting assistant at a strip theater in Gifu; she wrote about that time in an essay and published the ZINE "Odoru Gekijō" ("Dancing Theater"). Her ZINE "Angura Tanbōki" (a survey of underground venues) is also popular. (Aeza's profile is here: https://zindies.co/aeza?locale=ja) Published events: Book release commemorative event for The Struggles of a Discarded Evening-paper Reporter: A Personal History of the "Nagoya Times" (Fubai-sha) — Crime and Society: A Reporter’s Recollections 2026-11-13 (Fri) 19:00–20:30 https://zindies.co/events/353?locale=ja Nagoya Station West Tanka Reading Group — Featured book: Haru Mizumachi, Second Poetry Collection "Only Those Who Cried Alone on the Way Home Feel the Warmth of the Moonlight" 2026-12-04 (Fri) 19:00–20:30 https://zindies.co/events/348?locale=ja Talk & Workshop: What Is a Third-party Response? — From the Perspective of "Yasashii Nihongo" (Easy Japanese) and the Idea of "Kindness" 2026-12-11 (Fri) 19:00–20:30 https://zindies.co/events/350?locale=ja We have one more event currently in planning. I'll let you know once it's confirmed. For other upcoming events, please see: https://zindies.co/fqpi/events?locale=ja