The day Kobayashi Bookstore closed. The store's life was reflected in its stance of giving to others until the very end.
HIRATADAIKobayashi Bookstore closed its doors on May 31st. I attended a "thank you" gathering, not a farewell party, that afternoon.
Kobayashi Bookstore was a bookstore in Tachibana, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, that operated for 72 years. It was nationally renowned, and for more details, I recommend reading "What I Learned About Work, All From a Small Bookstore in Amagasaki" and this article from BookLink.
According to the owner, Yumiko Kobayashi, she said, "I don't want to be sad on the last day, I want to decorate with red and white fabric, serve sake, and end it spectacularly." So, it became a "thank you" gathering to express gratitude for all the years.
It started raining in the early afternoon. People waited, umbrellas in hand, for the shutters to open. It felt somehow fitting for Kobayashi Bookstore, which had sold not only books but also umbrellas.
There were TV crews with their cameras, newspaper reporters, regular customers, and people involved in various events – a diverse group of visitors.
The shutters opened, and Yumiko-san and Masahiro-san appeared. Yumiko-san was already in tears. I felt an ineffable emotion. I, too, had burst into tears when I heard the news of the closure, but now, as Yumiko-san wished, my stronger feeling was, "You've truly persevered so long (though it's very presumptuous of me to say), thank you for your hard work."
The Kobayashi family and their helpers served delicious sake and chikuwa. I had to leave after presenting flowers to the two of them, but there was still so much I wanted to talk about.
I believe that the spirit of generosity on the last day encapsulates everything about Kobayashi Bookstore.
I had always hoped that at the end of my life, like in the movie 'Big Fish,' all the characters from my life would gather and place flowers in my coffin. Now, a "legal entity" in the form of a company, and a persona in the form of a shop, have been added to that. What will the end of my own shop be like? It will reflect my own way of being and the way of the shop. This has given me more to think about.
Ever since I visited Kobayashi Bookstore to consult before opening DIY BOOKS, Yumiko-san has always been supportive. Masahiro-san also advised me, "Bookstores don't make money, you should quit."
After that, it became clear that "bookstores are truly difficult to sustain." As a result, DIY BOOKS has shifted its focus to being a bookstore in the original sense of "making things," and has largely stopped being a bookstore that primarily sells books. In reality, it opened while I was still working my main job, but the difficulty of generating profit solely from the bookstore was one of the reasons for the change in business model.
That's why (even as a novice) I can appreciate the tremendous feat of Kobayashi Bookstore's continued operation.
And Yumiko-san's sales prowess. Her communication skills.
The truth I learned when I joined a certain correspondence education company as a new graduate, working on direct mail and magazine promotions, was not to sell the product itself, but the benefit. Tailored to the individual. With direct mail, email newsletters, or social media, you can do this one-to-many. But Yumiko-san did this one-on-one, an incredible number of times.
Ultimately, she sold hundreds, even thousands of books. At the root of it is her sincerity in facing people and books.
The other day, at an event called "Future of Local Bookstores," when I spoke with Yumiko-san and other booksellers, the conversation turned to how bad I am at selling books. Yumiko-san said she would "teach me little by little," but it's about time I seriously went to learn from her. And as a bookseller and as a person, I'm thinking a lot about what to do next.
To be honest, I've been quite down since that day. I can't lie. I knew it, but it's sad that Kobayashi Bookstore won't be open. But I'll still go visit.
Yumiko Kobayashi, Masahiro Kobayashi, your family, and everyone involved, thank you so much for your hard work.
See you again.
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