Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa | book review
A comforting read of love, family, friendship, and the healing powers of books
I wish I had an uncle like Satoru with a bookshop to hold me when my world falls apart.
We meet 25-year-old Takoko as she loses both her boyfriend and job, and reluctantly accepts her uncle’s offer to move into the room above his musty secondhand bookshop in a quaint Tokyo town. She tidies up the room, then promptly folds into herself, earning the nickname ‘Sleep Monster’.
I told Sabu that I was sleeping thirteen hours a day, but on days when the shop was closed, I slept all day long. I slept and slept and wished I could sleep forever.
“Takoko,” he said with an amazed look on his face, “all you do is sleep. You’re a sleep monster.”
“I must be going through a sleepy phase,” I replied coldly. My uncle was just itching to interfere in my life, but I refused to let him draw me out.
“At twenty-five?”
“That’s right. It’s like they say, ‘a sleeping child is a growing child.’”
I’ve never been a big napper. For years, the last time I napped was when I was an actual child, save once after a tooth extraction. But when I had my world turned inside out not too long ago, I sought solace in both books and my bed. I would read for a couple of hours, fall into unrestful slumber, and woke up to read some more. I still remember the books that kept me company. Takoko’s insatiable need for sleep as comfort reminds me of My Year of Rest and Relaxation.
Unlike me, however, Takoko does not begin with a great love for books—ironic, since her great-grandfather opened the Morisaki Bookshop, but she soon learns they can be good company.
As Takoko slowly peers into the world again, encouraged by Satoru, we are introduced to the town of Jimbocho, which is so beautifully painted with just the right level of detail and familiarity that I feel it could be my own hometown. The characters too unfurl gently. We see the quirks of the Morisaki Bookshop’s characters, like Sabu and the old man who never buys anything. We are acquainted with Wada, who is my new book crush (friends: if you know someone like him, my DMs are open). We also meet Tomo and Takano, who feature more in this book’s sequel.
Uncle Satoru gains many dimensions. We first encounter him as an oddball relatively, but soon learn his depths and how a former free sprit who traipsed across the world ended up taking over his family’s bookshop, settling into a routine so fixed that he himself becomes an institution. We witness his deep love for his wife Momoko, who abruptly left him years ago, and his powerful feelings that remain. I adore Takoko and Satoru’s relationship, where uncle and niece are brutally honest and kind with each other, with all the teasing and comfort and awkwardness that flows out of that. I love how easy their relationship is, that it is very informal, with a beautiful friendship built into it.
For more comforting books about books, check out Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, What You Are Looking for is in the Library, The Cat Who Saved Books, and the sequel to this, More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop.
Book information
Title: Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
Author: Satoshi Yagisawa
Translator: Eric Ozawa
Published: 2010; 2023 in English
Length: 150 pages
Description
Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books.
Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier.
When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.
As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.
I definitely want to read this book now! Thank you so much for this beautiful writing.
I’ve always wanted to get this book yet i was afraid it might not be to my liking, thank you so much for the review!! :) i will certainly add this to my cart