NABC Store Manager's Diary — October 23, 2026 (Fri)

Autumn is gradually arriving and it's getting cooler. When that happens I always suddenly can't decide what to wear — every year it's the same. At a change of seasons I usually can't remember what I wore last fall to work. I could check my closet and see right away, but it still takes time to recall the outfits. This year in particular is a problem: I've gained over 10 kg compared with last autumn. The shirts I wore last year in size L have become tight, and I'm going to have to move up to LL or XL. About ten years ago I was wearing M shirts, so it's a huge difference. If I don't get even a little closer to that shape, more clothes will become unwearable. The suits I used to wear in my publishing days are already put away and unused. True, I hardly have occasions to wear them now, so that's fine, but it's a shame. It was one of those mornings when it suddenly got cold and choosing clothes was a real hassle. Well, for my current job it's better to dress casually for customer service. There weren't many customers today either, but Ms. Kotobuki from the Tokai Yuri History Research Association stopped by to deliver some items. She was unusually wearing a suit, so I thought she might be on a sales call, but she said she was returning from giving a lecture at a high-end hotel. No wonder she's getting more and more well known. After that, a tall man came in by himself carrying a book by Noriko Ibaraki and went to the register. When I asked, he said he was a newspaper reporter from Tokyo covering old buildings — it looked like a piece on old, 'shibu' buildings. In the evening two college-age boys came in — it's rare for our bookstore to get customers who aren't regulars from Café River. After browsing various books, they bought an architecture zine, "Hosokagai-ku no Susume." When I asked, they said they make zines; one of them had just made a novel zine and showed me one of the two copies he had produced. It's bunko size with a cover already on it and looks very professional — you wouldn't think it was his first. When I asked if he'd liked books since childhood, he said he actually disliked them, but in the past two years he'd become hooked on novels and decided to try writing himself. The trigger was Tadashi Ota's "Nagoya Station West Cafe Utrillo series"! He loves coffee shops. His pen name is Mio Noguchi, and he posts on Kakuyomu, so please check him out. Of the two sample copies he made this time, he gave one to his grandmother as a present — what a good grandson. I told him we'd carry it in our shop, and he said he'd make additional copies for the October Shizuoka ZINE Fest and might share some with us. I only skimmed it (it looks like the full text is on Kakuyomu, so I'll read it there), but his writing is very good and the story seems interesting. The setting is Nagoya, so it's a perfect fit for our shop. When I mentioned Zindies, he registered right away — young people are fast! Link to Mio Noguchi on Kakuyomu: https://kakuyomu.jp/users/com5151 Just before closing, a regular customer who works at a government office brought a colleague by before heading to a drinking party. There were people from Tokyo, and they found our shop concept interesting. I handed out information about upcoming events and some newly made business cards. It was another fun day.