This is the ZINE you complete at the very end. When unfolded, the interior pages measure over approximately 180 cm. After reading them, while imagining, stick the bonus stickers onto the frame on the inside of the cover, and try re-experiencing the hidden, unknown places. This is a hand-bound ZINE.

Before going to work I stopped by the independent bookstore Lbio in Kita Ward. A book market organized by the owners of the shared shelves was underway. Familiar zine creators were selling their work and everyone looked happy. Yodaka Some, who would be holding a poetry reading at my place that evening, was also vending there, and I worried a little whether they'd be okay since they had an event later that night. On the way home I unusually decided to take the bus; I went to the stop and boarded a bus bound for my destination, but it turned out to be a circulator that took a huge detour, so I got off at a stop near the subway (not my actual destination) and somehow made it to work on time. Riding an unfamiliar route is a bit fun. After arriving at the shop, two zine creators visited. One was Iyo, who specializes in horror. They delivered their new zine, Sunlight. The cover was eerie and scary lol. The other was Nando Nezumi, a public-bath (sento) researcher. They brought flyers for an event. My shop doesn't accept flyers left freely, but I can insert them into zines or hand them to customers who might be interested, so I took a few. From 7:00 pm there was Yodaka Some's event "Poem Reading," a program in which Yodaka reads their own poems aloud. Yodaka had asked me to read as well, so they told me in advance which poem I would read and I practiced reading it at home. When I worked at the library I used to read aloud thousands of folktales and poetry collections (I started that during the long periods at home in the COVID-19 pandemic), so it had been a while since I read aloud. Contemporary poetry was difficult, but after reading it several times I began to feel myself entering Yodaka's poetic world.

I released the event management tool for teams that I wrote about in yesterday's entry, under the name "Event Kit". We're starting with a beta. I'll keep working until we can make an official release.

An introductory tanka gathering hosted by Yodaka Some. Enjoy tanka while munching snacks. Snacks will be provided by Yodaka Some, but you are welcome to bring your own. If you would like to participate, please send your tanka (theme is free) by e-mail to [email protected] addressed to store manager Fujisaka by November 17.

The final day of Silver Week. That said, development on Zindies doesn't stop. This time, we've added support for "groups" that organize events. On Zindies, creators or stores can create event pages. There are also events registered by the operators as unofficial. Depending on settings, these can collect exhibitor booths or recruit participants up to a set limit. However, those two types don't cover all event organizers. Many events are run primarily by some kind of gathering (teams or organizations). Until now it wasn't possible to host events of that type — we've made that possible. Creators and stores often create events on their own, but that's not the case for teams or organizations. They tend to be larger in scale and require heavier administration. So we've added the ability for a team or organization to be composed of multiple members, allowing booth management and announcements to participants to be handled in one place. Whether it can handle very large events like Bungaku Flea Market or ZINE Fest is still unclear, but it should be useful for events that are at least more than small. The official release will come a little later, but if your team or organization is interested in hosting events related to ZINEs, please get in touch and give it a try.

An essay by a freelance writer who moves forward as a member of a minority. This piece was written on themes that couldn't be included in the “If We Removed the Borderlines” series. This is a reprint of the photocopied booklet originally published in February 2026; some of the included content has been changed. (This edition is not a photocopied booklet — the reprint has been issued via on-demand printing.) It strings together queer stories, accounts of share-type bookstores, and various musings on being single. Size: Bunkobon (Japanese pocket paperback) Pages: 40 ※The price shown is the direct-sale price. The selling price may be changed depending on the terms of the transaction.

The "Nanno Hanashi Desu ka" Festival (Radipop edition) will be held at the rental space Guruguru Sodatsu Nagaya in Hirano, Osaka. Scheduled for October 25, 2026, from 11:00 to 16:00. The day recreates the atmosphere of a back alley, featuring coffee, baked sweets, takoyaki vendors, zine booths, workshops, live broadcasts, and a stage.

Writer (participating in the series as a guest)

──Can a wound become a pearl? An essay collection that attempts care through words. It includes many newly written essays and short pieces. With writer Kaede Imai as a guest, we have newly reworked the free paper "Until It Becomes a Pearl," which ran for a year and a half, into this book. 　　　◯ Pearls are said to form when an irritant that has entered a shell is gradually wrapped over a long period of time. Could we, too, someday transform the wounds we have received into something else? Born from that earnest wish, "Until It Becomes a Pearl" came into being. Just as physical wounds follow the healing stages of hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation, emotional wounds may also change shape over time. Using the process of wound healing as a clue, we look at emotional wounds, pain, and what it means to live with wounds from two far-apart places, Aomori and Aichi, exchanging words as we go. Authors: Yodaka Some, Natsume Ichijo; Guest: Kaede Imai

24 years old, an office worker at a cosmetics company. A real-life essay that sublimates the gritty, clumsy days behind the glitter with distinctive metaphors and light humor. A yellow planner filled with rebellion against the office senior. A confrontation with instant ramen I've avoided for five years. Pearl nails offered from my past self to my future self. I've gathered 14 small sparkles that give you the energy to try your best tomorrow. Essay collection / A6 / 100 pages Contents: Tomorrow's glitter eyeshadow Goodbye, carry-on case The yellow planner and resolve Perfectionism and Poroichi The loneliness lit by a streetlamp The personal statement, now A plain yet rich pumpkin pudding Grainy mustard in the third year The love left behind by slippers A gorilla plush and a soulmate The end of the yukiyanagi Self-love expressed in my nails Rouge and promises The unforgettable Miree Biscuit

24 years old, working at a cosmetics manufacturer. I write essays about the gritty everyday life behind the sparkle of beauty, work, and romance. From Mie Prefecture / based in Hiroshima Prefecture

'Miha-BOOKCLUB' is a new anthology zine with the concept "Talk about books more casually, more playfully." Put aside heavy literary criticism and overly proper reading reports for a while. The theme of the launch issue is: "Books that, if they were lined up on your bookshelf, might make you think, 'I might like this person!'" Forty contributors freely talk about one book that reveals a bit of themselves—their quirks and personality—mixing anecdotes and fantasies. Please flip through the pages with the lighthearted feeling of chatting with friends. ----------------------------------------------- Specifications ----------------------------------------------- Format: A5 / 60 pages / On-demand printing Printing & binding: Graphic Cover: Full color Interior: Black and white ----------------------------------------------- Contributors (gojūon order, honorifics omitted) ----------------------------------------------- Ahiru / Niban Ishino / Chiharu Ito / Nakisa Okada / Toka Kagawa kakiage / Kanayu / Kei Kabezono / Kona Tsumuri / Shibikara Shirasu / Numa Soya / Kisen Yohira / Yuzu Tachibana / Tsugumi Torinomori Tagui Nagao / Nabewata / harami / Panda Daimyojin / Fuiaki Shi Hoshi / Masutaa / Cosmo Mikami / Miyuki / yunium / Rizu and 12 others (40 contributors in total) Edited & book design: Yuzuha Hosaka Cover illustration: Kamo Aizawa

Today is a weekday, but Kissa River (the café) is closed. The owner is away all day for a dance gig. Our part‑time staff couldn't make it either. So the afternoon is quieter than usual. With the Asian Games starting tomorrow, a tall foreign-looking man who seemed to be an athlete came in earlier wanting coffee, but unfortunately I had to point him to a nearby café. In broken English I asked, "Volleyball?" and he said he was a handball player. I forgot to ask which country he was from! I published a new event yesterday. On Thursday, October 8 at 7:00 pm we'll hold a reading group with ZINE creators Saki Shiori (a two-person unit). The theme is "Miri-shira Reading Group — I haven't read it, but I can't say that now so I'll say it!" As the title suggests, it sounds like a very fun session where we imagine and discuss the plots of classics people haven't actually read yet. I actually asked Saki when their next ZINE is coming out and they said they didn't have any ideas, so I suggested we hold an editorial meeting event here — and that's how this event was decided. https://zindies.co/events/329?locale=ja We're also revising another event. The reading group for Keigo Higashino, which we had asked Mephisto Prize-winning author Kenji Kuroda to host, wasn't getting much reaction, so Kenji and I discussed the assigned book and decided to reset it with "Swans and Bats." We're redoing the flyer — hope more people sign up. https://zindies.co/events/297?locale=ja Oh, and poet Satsuki Suzuki messaged saying that Shuta Fujii himself will attend the reading of "Perspective"! I thought it might be a joke, but he actually replied on X. So the author himself will be our guest. We redid the flyer and reannounced it on social media, and we've already received a registration. https://zindies.co/events/327?locale=ja In the evening a young man dropped by — he came from Hamamatsu for a live show. He said he finished a book on the train and came to look for a bookstore here — that made me happy. When I asked what authors he reads he said Mieko Kawakami. I explained that we mainly stock authors connected to Nagoya, but I told him about a book a young customer recommended about a month ago and that we decided to stock: "Call Me If You Feel Like Dying." He bought it. Great! Before closing, ZINE creator and editor Yuzuha visited after a long time. Regular customer Chiharu also came in, and the two of them were lively talking about writers. A young woman also stopped by on her way home from a part‑time job at a department store. She said she likes books about the town's history and the past. She bought a ZINE about sento (public baths). Thanks! I asked Yuzuha to order some new titles for us. I'll let you know when they arrive. I also invited Chiharu to Saturday night's poetry reading by Yodaka Some.

Today the sun came out for the first time in a while, and it didn’t rain all day. It’s probably the third day since the start of September that it hasn’t rained in Nagoya. Still, the humidity was high, so it was very muggy. Customer numbers are as low as ever, but today a couple of tanka poets stopped by. One was Satsuki Suzuki, the editor of the Tokai Tanka Anthology "Seeds of Song." Ms. Suzuki will be hosting a tanka event on October 2, the "Nagoya Station West Tanka Reading Group — Shuta Fujii’s poetry collection 'Perspective'," so we talked about that. Now that the reading group is officially confirmed, I called the publisher of Perspective, Gendai Tanka-sha. Because they’re based in Kyoto, getting copies through our distributor wouldn’t have made it in time for October 2, so I placed a phone order. The other poet was Kei, who dropped by for the first time in a while. She was on her way to get a passport. Lucky her. Today’s arrivals included a Futaba Bunko paperback: Yasuko Higashiyama, a writer from Seto City, has a new book titled "Where Is the Ideal Home?" — a linked short-story collection about an architect that explores themes of home and life. It looks interesting. We’ve been indebted to Higashiyama before when she gave a talk about her previous book "Even Cats Wander into Great Authors." Apparently Higashiyama will be giving a talk at Seto City Library this coming Sunday the 20th. http://www.lib.seto.aichi.jp/news/YasukoHigashiyama-talkevent.html This isn’t work-related, but I’m scheduled to give a talk at the library in Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture on Tuesday, November 3 (a national holiday), so I consulted with an AI to decide the theme. The theme is: "Libraries begin with someone's 'trouble' — connecting books and people, and connecting communities through libraries." In past talks about libraries I’ve tended to spend the time listing and reporting on things we’ve done, so I’m thinking of changing that approach a bit for this one. I’ll let you know once the official announcement is ready.

Tell us about a book you know absolutely nothing about. A reading group where participants imaginatively share and discuss plot summaries of books they haven't actually read.

A market event featuring ZINEs and craft works. Exhibitors selling only animal goods are also welcome. The event will be held at KIITO (Kobe) on February 28, 2027, from 11:00 to 16:00. Information is provided on booth specifications and fees, exhibitor responsibilities, and the application procedure.

This book is a life essay in which the author—who has felt for 33 years that they “can’t live the way everyone else does”—looks back on bullying and feelings of inferiority, working as a healthcare professional, leaving their job, rifts with family, romance, and periods of unemployment while searching for ways of working and living that suit them. Written for people who feel “I can’t work normally,” “I can’t do the same things as those around me,” or “I don’t know if this way of living is right,” it records one person’s ongoing trials and errors.

I’m an introverted man in my late twenties/early thirties, based in Kanagawa. A former physical therapist, I published an autobiographical essay about my imperfect self who couldn’t become “normal.” I want to be there for people who find life difficult and for those who have experienced sadness and suffering.