Foreigner-run enterprises rarely make much of an impact in Japan, but American publisher Lucas Badtke-Berkow is the proud owner of a small business with a big profile. Paper Sky, his bilingual travel magazine, currently in its 10th issue, has a readership of more than 45,000 and this summer it made the leap into retail with Book246 -- a concept store in Tokyo's smart Aoyama district.
"The idea was to turn the magazine into a shop," says the 33-year-old entrepreneur. "I was asked by Cafe Company, the people behind Wired Cafe and Shibuya Underpass Society, to come up with some ideas for a little space next to their latest venture. Among other things, I suggested a bookstore based on the concept of Paper Sky and that's the one they liked best."
Book246 is based around three key functions, explains softly spoken Badtke-Berkow. "It's like a pro-shop [speciality shop] for vacationing where you can get information and travel tools before you go on a trip. It's also a place that you come away from feeling as though you have been on a trip -- and it's somewhere that inspires you to go traveling."