Kumiko Taguchi, 59, is deputy manager of Junkudo book shop in Ikebukuro in Tokyo, which boasts the largest floor space (nine-stories) of any bookstore in Japan. Before moving to Junkudo in 1997, she worked at another bookselling giant, Libro, located opposite Junkudo. After a long career in the industry that has earned her a reputation as a "charisma bookseller," Taguchi organizes lectures and spends a lot of time thinking about the importance of books. Recently, she published one of her own, titled "Shoten Hanjyo-ki (A Story of a Prosperous Book Shop)," a humorous depiction of booksellers' hectic lives.
Sometimes, you don't know what you really want until you bump into it. I never planned this career. When I got bored with clerical work in the company I first joined, I was moved to that company's bookselling section. I've been a bookseller for 35 years now, and I truly think I couldn't have done any other job.
Stories have life. Writers are products of their era. Their works are living parts of society.