Days at the Morisaki Bookshop – Satoshi Yagisawa

Rating: 4/5

Plot

Takako is twenty-five, living a fairly flat life made up of routine and little else. When she finds out that the man she’s in love with is about to get married, she sinks even deeper into her own apathy. Right at that moment, she gets an unexpected call from her uncle Satoru, whom she hasn’t seen in years: an eccentric man who owns a small second-hand bookshop in Jinbōchō, Tokyo’s book district, which has belonged to his family for three generations. Her uncle offers her a room above the shop, in exchange for a hand every now and then with running the store, and from there Takako begins a slow journey of rediscovery, through books, encounters, and a gradual return to herself.

My thoughts

A light read, with no plot twists, but precisely because of that it feels like a story that could happen to anyone. There’s no need for an elaborate plot: the everyday life of a bookshop, a neighborhood, and two people slowly learning to find their way back to each other is more than enough.

What I loved most is the character of Uncle Satoru. When he finds out about Takako’s breakup, even without knowing the details of what happened, he immediately offers her a place to stay, no questions asked, expecting nothing in return except the occasional hand in the shop. He doesn’t push her to get back on her feet quickly; he lets her take her own time to heal, at her own pace. And it’s exactly this kind of quiet, unintrusive presence that makes him the kind of uncle everyone wishes they had: a steady point to lean on whenever you need it. And later, when he finds out what the man did to his “little niece,” he doesn’t hesitate to stand up for her and push back firmly, revealing a more combative side that makes the character even more complete, not just a gentle refuge but also someone ready to protect the people he loves.

There’s another storyline that struck me deeply: that of his wife, Momoko. For years she disappeared, leaving Satoru alone, in order to protect him from finding out about her illness. When she finally reappears, the reunion is complicated, the weight of knowing he now knows the truth pushes her to disappear again, as if she can’t bear having been found out. But in the end she comes back, not because she’s sick, but because she can’t stay away from him, because she loves him, and because she wants to spend her final days with him, living them peacefully, together with Takako too, the niece she doesn’t initially get along with. It’s a bond that builds slowly: over time, Takako learns to care for her and to understand the reasons behind a choice that at first looks like nothing more than abandonment, but turns out to be an act of love, clumsy in its form, perhaps, but genuine at its core.

In short

A gentle book that doesn’t rely on surprise but on its ability to make the reader feel welcomed, much like what happens to Takako among the shelves of the Morisaki Bookshop. Perfect for anyone looking for a relaxing, reflective read that warms without asking much in return.

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