Set in the seas off Nomozaki, Nagasaki, this novel traces the life of a man as he moves from boyhood into adulthood. Love, work, parting, and reunion—. The story overlays the joys and sorrows of human life on the sight of the “ago” (flying fish) skimming above the sea.

Yesterday I attended an evening meeting in Tokyo and stayed overnight, so today I took the shinkansen from Tokyo Station back to Nagoya. After the meeting, at the social gathering an interesting book came up in conversation, so I stopped by the Maruzen bookstore in Marunouchi before boarding the shinkansen to try to buy it. Search results suggested it was in stock, but I couldn't find it on the shelf and unfortunately left Tokyo Station without buying it. The book in question was "Living the Continuation of That Day" — people said reading it makes you want to talk about it with someone, though whether it's actually good is another matter. Intriguing, right? A conversation you would expect at a gathering of book lovers. https://www.tsogen.co.jp/sp/isbn/9784488029548 On the shinkansen I had Kiyoken's shumai bento and got into a travel mood; before I knew it we had arrived at Nagoya Station. There's a talk event tonight, so I spent the day at the register preparing flyers and the like. Oh — new arrivals came in. A new book by popular tanka poet Soichi Chigusa, who is from Nagoya, arrived from the publisher Seijisha: the tanka collection "April Zōshi." The design is stylish and delicate, so we wrapped the copies on display in plastic; I left one unwrapped as a display copy. I also stocked a new ZINE. Someone I met at a ZINE event made one with their friends, so I took a few copies on consignment. It was their first ZINE and the type is extremely small — at my age I probably can't read it comfortably. If I force myself to read it I'll risk my eyes, but it seems fine for younger readers, so I'll let it be. Still, I'd like them to be a bit more considerate next time. Accessibility for reading is something I'd like to see considered even in the ZINE world. Just after 5 p.m. people began arriving for tonight's event. Chikura, a member of Zindies, also stopped by. They will be speaking at the Code4Lib JAPAN Conference 2026 at Kogakkan University in Ise starting tomorrow, and they joined tonight's event before that. Coincidentally, the speaker Kazufumi Iida also came by the store, so I introduced them. I wonder if Iida found it interesting. About 20 people attended Iida's talk. Remarkably, participants had come from Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Toyama, Kyoto, and of course locally as well. More than half of those attending were from libraries, and there were also bookstore staff among them. The theme of Iida's talk was "Ten Things People Who Work with Books Should Consider in a World Where 90% Read Few Books." Having spent my life among people who love printed text, I was deeply rooted in the old idea that reading equals reading printed characters, and I had a hard time adapting to younger people's new forms of reading. But it's clear we need to be more flexible in how we think about the act of "reading." From the floor, a bookseller from Toyama spoke about their shop's "Night Reading" initiative held in the bookstore, and a children's bookshop from Kanagawa talked about online reading groups with mothers. It seems many initiatives are growing in the field. The afterparty was a small group at a nearby Furaibo. I joined after finishing closing duties at the shop. During the talk, Iida mentioned that postwar reading-promotion activities originally targeted adults as well, which made me think that it may be somewhat wrong that reading promotion has become focused primarily on children. Reading-promotion efforts aimed at young people have already produced certain effects (even if those forms of reading were unexpected by older generations), and now it seems that promoting reading among adults may be what's needed. For people who don't read books, we should use every means to show that "reading" can be enjoyable. If we can do that, perhaps that's enough. Kazufumi Iida's next talk will be on Friday, November 6, at 19:00. The theme will be "Reading Comprehension and Its Subtle Relationship with Reading." Stay tuned. https://zindies.co/events/318?locale=ja

“I want to make a ZINE but don’t know where to start” “I feel making an entire book might be a bit too much” For those people, we wanted to offer an easy way to get into ZINEs by starting from just one page. A single page inside a ZINE. On that one page you can pack in whatever you like — the things you love, what you’re thinking about, your everyday life, and more. Illustration, photography, writing, poetry, collage — the form of expression is up to you. Whether you have made ZINEs before or never made one, you are welcome to participate. Would you like to send your one page to someone?

Only one week to go. I'll be participating in Bungaku Flea Market Osaka 14. Our booth is 'te-81'. After you enter, turn immediately left and walk straight; we're at the far end of the 'te' row. Our commitment at events is to actually make and sell the snacks that appear in the books we create. We operate as a shop offering 'books about snacks and the snacks from those books.' The books are also handmade to match the image of simple homemade snacks. Please come and take a look.

We will hold a talk event to celebrate the publication of publishing journalist Kazufumi Iida's new book, 'The Myth of Declining Reading Comprehension Among Young People', published by Shueisha International.

I took the day off today to take care of some errands. My energy still hasn't fully recovered, but I'm slowly getting my body moving. In the afternoon I took the Shinkansen to Tokyo. I got off at Shin-Yokohama to visit Earth Plaza (Kanagawa Prefectural Center for Global Citizens). A librarian who has been helping me started working this week, so I went to say hello. In the evening I had a meeting and a social gathering in Tokyo.

An exhibition and sales event for ZINEs, art, and handmade works. The event takes place on 2026-11-21 from 10:00 to 16:00. Free admission. Exhibitor fees apply (half booth: ¥4,500; wide booth: ¥10,000). Only pre-packaged food and drinks may be sold. Promotional plans are available, such as paid logo placement in the pamphlet and on the website.

An outdoor night market presented by Machi no ZINE Fest & INDIE MARKET. Held at the Central Park in front of Hanshin Amagasaki Station from 15:00–20:00. In addition to ZINEs, art, handmade goods, and used books, there will be food trucks, workshops, and performances. Exhibitors wanted (booth fee: Half ¥2,000 / Wide ¥3,000).

A food-focused ZINE event held at TOTTEI PARK in Kobe. Kansai's food-related zines, used books, and paper goods will gather; held concurrently with the food event “Manpuku Festival.” Open daily 11:00–19:00, rain or shine. Exhibitors must pay for booths (1 booth: ¥3,000).

A food-focused ZINE event held at TOTTEI PARK in Kobe. Kansai-based food ZINEs, used books and paper goods will be on display; the event runs concurrently with the food event "Manpuku Festival." Open daily 11:00–19:00, rain or shine. Exhibitors are charged for booths (¥3,000 per booth).

A ZINE event themed around music and architecture. It will be held on September 26, 2026, from 11:30 to 17:00 at Seishin Chuo Hall (1-1 Mikatadai, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture). Exhibitor displays, workshops, DJs and more are planned. Exhibition booths are available for a fee (half/wide, etc.). Free admission.

A zine sales and exhibition event. It will be held on December 5, 2026, from 12:00 to 17:00 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center (Taito-kan) in Asakusa. Information about exhibition booths, how to apply, and exhibitor rules (loading restrictions, display restrictions, publicity cooperation, etc.) is provided. Booth applications are accepted via STORES.

Before I knew it, it's already September 3. I came down with something last Friday and was bedridden until yesterday—probably a cold or the flu. I went home for the weekend, but I ended up passing it to two of the three family members I was with; those two are still laid up. I'm still low on energy and a bit unsteady. Worse, my voice is hoarse, so it's frustrating not being able to speak well when serving customers. The weather's been on and off with rain, sometimes heavy, so it's been very unstable. Naturally there have been fewer customers. Still, a few young people stopped by and bought ZINEs. Some came from Hamamatsu, some even from Yamagata. A young man who came without an umbrella seems to live nearby. He was interested in Kazufumi Iida's event on the 5th, so I told him he could just drop in on the day. The day after tomorrow is Iida's talk. Actually, Iida has talk events coming up on November 6 and February 16 next year. November's talk will be about "The Myth that Young People's Reading Comprehension Is Declining." February's event will be a panel discussion on school libraries, youth reading, and reading accessibility. Please look forward to them!

On the way home at the end of summer, for some reason I find myself remembering the past. "Summer's End Credits" is a book that records memories of summer in tanka and prose. The sea, fireworks, club activities, summer festivals, nights walking until the first train, people you no longer meet. Rather than major events, it gathers small memories that resurface in unexpected moments. My own summers and the summers that might have existed in someone else's life mingle together. As you turn the pages as if watching a film's end credits, I hope you will recall one of the summers that had been sleeping inside you. --- Title: Summer's End Credits Author: Sho Kasama Publisher: Bunsaido Publishing ISBN: 978-4-86802-422-4C0092 Price: ¥1,100 (tax included) Size: A6 Pages: 104 Publication: September 2026

Based in Tokyo, I make books that combine novels, tanka, prose, and photography. I write pieces themed around streets and seasons, love, people I no longer see, and memories that return in sudden moments. In 2023 I produced the short story collection 'Shiori', and in 2026 I published a revised edition of 'Shiori' and a tanka-and-prose collection 'Natsu no Endroll'. I would be happy to gradually share my work through events like the Bungaku Flea Market, zine events, and bookstores.

Zindies has been informing about newly registered works via the app's general 'notifications'. However, we hadn't been sending those updates by email. In particular, since stores often want to know about new works, we've decided to start emailing them. Unlike notifications, emails remain in the mailbox, so they're easier to review later. I'll write more details separately on note, but the email content varies depending on whether we already carry works by the creator. If we already carry them, stores can contact the creator right away. If not, the email explains our stance on carrying their work. This isn't a major feature addition, but I hope it becomes an opportunity for creators and stores to interact.

We're hosting a market where you can discover various forms of “making,” including books and zines, art, goods, and handmade items. Apply to exhibit here ↓ [Application deadline: 9/15] https://forms.gle/iiKDGz1EtUszkXx66

Some time ago I added a feature that can generate a portfolio (PDF) for creators from the creator and work information registered on Zindies. The fact that it can automatically generate convenience-store print codes seems to have been well received, and I'm very grateful for that. Riding that momentum, I thought it would be nice if various pages could be turned into PDFs and printed at convenience stores. I named it the "Thorough PDF Initiative." As a prologue to that, I made it possible to output a list of events held at shops. NAgoya BOOK CENTER hosts many events, so the PDFs are quite a spectacle. The period-type (festival-type) events we recently added also appear, so please take a look if you'd like. Open https://zindies.co/fqpi/events?locale=ja — at the top of the page, to the right of the heart and share icons, there's a new icon that looks like "Map or Pamphlet"; you can download the PDF from there. It's not implemented yet, but it would be nice if single-event pages could also be printed. If booth listings are included, an exhibitor list pamphlet could be produced right away. It's not a ZINE itself, but being able to create printed materials quickly seems useful, so I'll try various approaches.

A slightly shady job comes to pastry chef Uncle Cookie. Together with his former comrades, he takes on one last 'misdeed.' A bit hard-boiled and a delicious tale. "Oyatsu Banashi" pairs recipes with the stories. With the recipe at the back of the book, you can actually make and enjoy the cookies that appear in the story.