On Sale in Japan!

Think of bookshops in this country today.

What do you think of?  

Closures? Shops with falling customer levels? Customers browsing and then ordering on Amazon? Chains putting the independents out of business? Chains themselves struggling with competition from Amazon, supermarkets and e-books? (Over 2,000 bookshops have closed down in the UK since 2005.)

Then think of Japan! There, bookshops thrive. Think: huge shops, countless bookshelves in each one, so many customers it’s difficult to move around, ringing cash registers that never stop.

Now, one of those wonderful shops, the Junkudo in Osaka, has agreed to stock my book, Cherry Blossoms, Sushi and Takarazuka, Seven Years in Japan. My dream has come true – to see my book sitting proudly in a bookshop in Japan.

And not only that, those sweet people at the Junkudo have written a blurb to put in front of my book with a précis (in Japanese) adding that although many foreigners write about their experiences in Japan, my book is very special because I write about the Takarazuka Revue. They go on to say that fate took me to Japan and highly recommend my book as a great book to study.

And, not only that, they have tweeted my book. Recently, every few minutes my book was tweeted on their Twitter site.

I’m so happy I can hardly write at all today!