{"id":25310,"date":"2026-04-08T16:04:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T00:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=25310"},"modified":"2026-04-14T16:07:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T00:07:55","slug":"days-at-the-morisaki-bookshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/days-at-the-morisaki-bookshop\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Days at the Morisaki Bookshop\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The cover of \u201cDays at the Morisaki Bookshop\u201d by Satoshi Yagisawa. | Photo from @ofpagesandplots on Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 8, 2026 | Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Content warning:<\/b> this book contains spoilers for \u201cDays at the Morisaki Bookshop\u201d by Satoshi Yagisawa<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t anticipate falling in love with \u201cDays at the Morisaki Bookshop\u201d when I first picked it up at the Book Bin in Salem. It sat quietly on my bookshelf for nearly a year before I finally decided to read it this past spring break.<\/span><\/p>\n

Honestly? It\u2019s one of the best books I\u2019ve ever read.<\/span><\/p>\n

Set in Tokyo, Japan, the book follows Takako, who discovers her boyfriend, Hideaki, is going to marry someone else. Takako also learns that Hideaki had been in a relationship with the woman he would marry for much longer than he had been with her, and that she was, unknowingly, the other woman.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Devastated, Takako moves into the second floor of the Morisaki Bookshop, which is owned and operated by her Uncle Satoru in Tokyo\u2019s Jinb\u014dch\u014d District. Jinb\u014dch\u014d is famous worldwide for its multitude of used bookstores, publishing houses and antique stores.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During her time at the Morisaki Bookshop, Takako begins to heal and eventually moves on from Hideaki. Later in the book, Satoru\u2019s estranged wife, Momoko, returns, and Takako becomes close with her before helping the pair with their complicated feelings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The book itself is only 150 pages, meaning it\u2019s short and bittersweet. I read it in an hour, and by the end, I was absolutely sobbing. Takako\u2019s story of healing with Satoru, then in turn, Takako helping Satoru and Momoko heal was beautiful. It felt full circle, and if it weren\u2019t for what Satoru had done for her, Takako would not have been able to help him and Momoko.<\/span><\/p>\n

Takako\u2019s story of healing was beautiful, as well. At first, she didn\u2019t want to even be at the Morisaki Bookshop, but had to be due to her leaving her job and not being able to pay rent. While it wasn\u2019t an ideal situation in her mind, she slowly found herself enjoying it more and more, especially when she made friends with people working at the nearby coffee shop, and eventually moved on from Hideaki.<\/span><\/p>\n

Satoru and Momoko\u2019s storyline is especially fulfilling. When Takako goes on a hiking trip with Momoko, she discovers that her aunt is sick, refusing treatment and has only returned to see Satoru one last time. When they return home, Takako tells Satoru what she learned, and Satoru goes after Momoko, so they may be together again and he can support her. The book ends with a year’s time skip and the three of them getting coffee together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reading this book honestly felt like curling up under the covers with a mug of tea \u2014 which I did while I was reading.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The book has two sequels, as well: \u201cMore Days at the Morisaki Bookshop\u201d from 2011 and \u201cWith Love from the Morisaki Bookshop\u201d from 2024. While the first two books \u2014 \u201cDays\u201d and \u201cMore Days\u201d \u2014 have been translated into English, \u201cWith Love from the Morisaki Bookshop\u201d has not yet been translated.<\/span><\/p>\n

I wholeheartedly recommend these books. They\u2019re the absolute perfect slice-of-life stories that have arcs of healing and finding one\u2019s place in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

10\/10.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April 8, 2026 | Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor   Content warning: this book contains spoilers for \u201cDays at the Morisaki Bookshop\u201d by Satoshi Yagisawa   I didn\u2019t anticipate falling in love with \u201cDays at the Morisaki Bookshop\u201d when I first picked it up at the Book Bin in Salem. It sat quietly on my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1645,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018Days at the Morisaki Bookshop\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"Slice-of-life story to warm the bittersweet edges of the heart","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[684,1556,608,39],"class_list":["post-25310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-western","tag-western-oregon","tag-western-oregon-university","tag-wou"],"modified_by":"saragerrick","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25314,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25310\/revisions\/25314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}