FEATURE: Bookstores vanishing from Japan with fall in population

Bookshops are vanishing all over Japan. According to one industry estimate, the number has fallen by almost a third in the last decade, hit by a combination of a falling population and the spread of the internet.Some voices have been raised in protest, such as by residents of towns arguing that bookstores are needed for a lively urban environment, but customer numbers continue to fall. And that means that to survive, operators need to exercise ingenuity.Takashima Shobo, a bookstore with a 72-year history in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, is a case in point.The shop has …READ FULL ARTICLE