A new essay by novelist Haruki Murakami hit bookstores across Japan on Thursday straight from the publisher under an arrangement aimed at helping businesses fight off the onslaught from online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc.
Kinokuniya Co., a Tokyo-based bookstore operator, directly bought 90 percent of the essay’s initial 100,000 copies from its publisher to sell at its outlets and distribute to other bookstores.
Unable to view this article?
This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.
Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.
If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see this support page.
We humbly apologize for the inconvenience.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.