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International Business Times
International Business Times
Business
Kyoko HASEGAWA

Shelf-sharing Seeks To Save Bookstores In Japan

Bookshop owner and novelist Shogo Imamura (L) and creative director Kashiwa Sato at their store in Tokyo (Credit: AFP)

"I'm holding an illustrated book of cheeses," says a delighted Tomoyo Ozumi, a customer at a growing kind of bookshop in Japan where anyone wanting to sell their tomes can rent a shelf.

The concept brings back the joy of browsing real books to communities where many bookstores have shut, and gives readers more eclectic choices than those suggested by algorithms on online sellers, its proponents say.

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