NOSTALGIA, BELONGING, AND THE HEALING POWER OF BOOKS IN SATOSHI YAGISAWA’S DAYS AT THE MORISAKI BOOKSHOP

Abstract

Satoshi Yagisawa’s widely beloved novel Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (2010, translated into English by Eric Ozawa, 2022) is a quiet yet deeply resonant work about emotional recovery, the passage of time, and the transformative power of literature. Set in the famous secondhand bookshop district of Jimbocho in Tokyo, the novel follows Takako, a young woman adrift after a painful betrayal, who seeks refuge in her uncle’s small bookshop. Through her gradual immersion in the world of books and the warmth of an unexpected community, Takako rediscovers herself and learns to embrace life once more. This article examines the novel’s central themes of heartbreak and healing, the symbolic role of the bookshop as a sanctuary, and the ways in which reading and human connection serve as paths to recovery. Yagisawa’s work is argued to be not merely a celebration of books, but a meditation on the spaces and relationships that allow us to find ourselves again.