With Love from the Morisaki Bookshop
By Yagisawa Satoshi
Translated by Eric Ozawa
Manilla Press (2024)
ISBN-13: 978-1786584960
Review by Renae Lucas-Hall
Some stories resonate deeply, capturing the heart of every avid reader. This delightful volume is one such gem, perfect for those who cherish books, not just for their musty charm but for the dreams, adventures, and life lessons they offer. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and its sequel, More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, are combined in this publication creating a richer, more profound appreciation of its characters and plot.
The first novel, winner of the Chiyoda Literature Prize, introduces Takako, a Japanese girl navigating heartbreak and self-discovery. After a painful breakup, she moves into her uncle’s Morisaki Bookshop in Jimbocho, Tokyo’s famed "Book Town", a vibrant hub of publishing houses and used bookstores. Immersed in this unique world and its community, Takako develops a passion for reading that transforms her life. This story offers a heartfelt exploration of love, identity, and the magic of books, set against the charming backdrop of Jimbocho, where writers and ideas converge.
Yagisawa’s writing style feels like a heartfelt letter to friends, keeping readers connected to the characters and moments he holds dear. His extraordinary talent for characterization shines throughout both books.
Uncle Satoru is a man who imparts wisdom on navigating life’s challenges, telling Takako that ‘it is important to stand still sometimes. Think of it as a little rest in the journey of your life. This is your harbor. And your boat is just dropping anchor here for a while. And after you’re well rested, you can sail again’ (p. 31, first book).
Love is a central theme in the book, beautifully expressed through Uncle Satoru. In the first book, he advises Takako: ‘Don’t be afraid to love someone. When you fall in love, I want you to fall in love all the way… Those memories of people you love, they never disappear. They go on warming your heart as long as you live’ (p. 65).
This uncle is a quirky and enigmatic figure. Described as wearing threadbare clothes, slip-on sandals, and sporting an unruly haircut (pp. 2–3, second book), he exudes a childlike spontaneity while remaining deeply complex. He has peculiar fascinations, particularly with reading autobiographies, memoirs, biographies, and letters from writers he admires. For Satoru, books reveal how their authors lived, loved, and departed this world (p. 20, second book). Having experienced a profound existential crisis in his youth, Satoru turned to books in search of insights into his own life (p. 24, second book), embodying the life-changing power of literature.
Uncle Satoru’s wife, Momoko, is more candid and straightforward than her husband and this makes her appear younger but her mysterious secret slowly unfolds. She maintains a radiant smile even through the most intense hardships.
Takako’s friend, Tomo Aihara, is a ‘rare Japanese beauty’ who describes herself as someone incapable of being loved. Meanwhile, Takano, a shy and lanky boy working at the Saveur coffee shop, is hopelessly in love with Tomo. A fan of foreign authors like Faulkner and Capote, he admires her from afar but lacks the courage to confess his feelings.
In chapter four of the first book, Takako meets Akira Wada when a waitress at the Saveur coffee shop seats them together. Wada works at a nearby publishing company specializing in textbooks and teaching materials. Wada fondly remembers his first impression of Takako at the bookshop: ‘You just fit in so well in the store that I wanted to let you be. It was almost like that moment when you’re watching a butterfly coming out of a chrysalis, and you’re holding your breath, and you want to keep on watching… I guess you left a big impression on me’ (p. 91, first book). A fellow book lover, Wada has a particular fondness for old Japanese novels.
The Morisaki Bookshop itself feels like a character in the story. Described as ‘an old-fashioned store, in a two-floor wooden building untouched by time, every bit the image of a vintage bookshop. The inside is cramped. You could get five people in there, but just barely… For the most part the books on the shelves are cheap, running from a hundred to five hundred yen, but the store also sells rarer things like first editions of famous writers’ (p. 3, second book).
In the first book, Takako discovers the transformative joy of reading, ‘I had opened a door I had never known existed. That’s exactly what it felt like. From that moment on I read relentlessly, one book after another. It was as if a love of reading had been sleeping somewhere deep inside me all this time, and then it suddenly sprang to life’ (p.35). The Morisaki bookshop specializes in modern Japanese literature. As Takako spends more time at the bookshop she realises, ‘I had become one with the bookshop. I could feel my sense of self begin to dissolve and my consciousness expand’ (p. 64, second book).
This volume, a dream for Japanese literature enthusiasts, is brimming with references to both famous and lesser-known works, showcasing Yagisawa’s deep literary knowledge. Titles mentioned include Friendship by Mushanokoji Saneatsu (1885-1976), Sweet Beans for Two! by Oda Sakunosuke (1913-1947), One Thousand and One-Second Stories by Inagaki Taruho (1900-1977), The Chieko Poems by Takamura Kotaro (1883-1956), Before the Dawn by Shimazaki Toson (1872-1943), Train of Fools by Uchida Hyakken (1889-1971), and In Praise of Shadows by Tanizaki Jun’ichiro (1886-1965).
At the end of the second book, themes of sadness and grief take centre stage. The reader is reminded that the promises made to the dying are vows one must keep. It provides a lesson on the importance of tying up loose ends and making amends to find peace before a loved one passes (p. 145, second book). The story also reflects on how objects that bring grief can later become cherished, once we’ve learned to cope with loss (p. 149, second book). This book offers hope and relief, soothing the hearts of those grieving, while the Morisaki Bookshop also begins to shake at this point as it resonates with the emotions of its readers.
These two books presented as one beautifully captures the complexities of love, sorrow, and the illuminating power of novels, offering a deeply emotional and cathartic experience. With its rich character development and reflections on life’s precious moments, it leaves readers with a profound sense of connection and peace.