Maximum City. Minimum bookstores
Updated On: 06 May, 2024 06:46 AM IST | Mumbai | Fiona Fernandez
A recent bit of news from Japan came as a stark reminder for bibliophiles in our home city, of the glaring lack of support for the habit of reading
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Representational Image. Pic/Pixabay
It’s ironic that this columnist had to borrow from Suketu Mehta’s bestselling title to drive home a reality about literature’s havens in the same city in which the book is set. The state of our bookstores—that impactful sanctuary for bibliophiles, [or even those who have bibliosmia]—came back to remind us of a certain reality. A recent development shared on social media by an indie bookseller [who else would, right?] in India, revealed that the Japanese government was keen to support their local bookstores. The Japan Times stated that, and I quote: ‘…the central government has taken notice, with the trade ministry establishing a team to promote local bookshops’.
As if this didn’t act as an eye-opener that reflects the seriousness of a nation to protect its bookstores, its trade minister added in the same announcement that ‘A bookstore is a place where someone can browse a list of books of all genres.’ That enlightened minister concluded by saying that such establishments had an advantage over the Internet, and other media in terms of broadening people’s horizons. The last three words hit home hard.
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