Q3:SYOTEN

SYOTEN or HONYA is a Japanese bookstore where You can buy hardcovers, paperbacks , magazines, and so on. In addition, almost all bookstores sell various kinds of comics(MANGA), and some of them sell CDs and video games.

Unlike US and some EU countries, all bookstores in Japan sell a book at exactly the same price because of the Resale Price Maintenance Agreement. It means that wherever you buy a book, you can't get a discount. But some bookstores have a membership program that bring you benefits. So you should select a bookstore not by the price of a book but by their locations, assortment of books and a membership program they have.

There are some famous bookstore chains such as

Kinokuniya Syoten
Sanseido Syoten
Junkudo Syoten
Maruzen


And there are some famous used bookstore chains such as

BOOK-OFF
Furuhon Ichiba


Bookstore sales have been declining in this decade dramatically as more and more people buy a book at convenience stores and online shopping sites like Amazon. So many bookstores, especially local bookstores, have been driven into bankruptcy in recent years.

However, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Japanese have lost interest in reading books. In fact, more and more people read novels and comics on their mobile phones lately. In Japan, Mobile Phone Novels are considered as a kind of literature. It may be just a temporary fashion, but it may be the evolution of writing.




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