Name: 星光's review of I miei giorni alla libreria Morisaki by Satoshi Yagisawa
Item: I miei giorni alla libreria Morisaki
Rating: 5
Author: 星光

Satoshi Yagisawa

Jinbōchō, Tokyo. Il quartiere delle librerie e delle case editrici, paradiso dei lettori. Un angolo tranquillo e fuori dal tempo, a pochi passi dalla metropolitana e dai grandi palazzi moderni. File e file di vetrine stipate all’inverosimile di libri, nuovi o di seconda mano. Non tutti lo conoscono, più attratti da Ginza o dalle mille luci di Shibuya. Di sicuro Tatako – venticinquenne dalla vita piuttosto incolore – non lo frequenta assiduamente. Eppure è qui che si trova la libreria Morisaki, che appartiene alla sua famiglia da tre generazioni. Un negozio di appena otto tatami in un vecchio edificio di legno, con una stanza al piano superiore adibita a magazzino. È il regno di Satoru, l’eccentrico zio di Tatako. Entusiasta e un po’ squinternato, dedica la sua vita ai libri e alla Morisaki, soprattutto da quando la moglie lo ha lasciato. L’opposto di Tatako, che non esce di casa da quando l’uomo di cui era innamorata le ha detto di voler sposare un’altra. È Satoru a lanciarle un’ancora di salvezza, offrendole di trasferirsi al primo piano della libreria. Proprio lei che non è certo una forte lettrice, si trova di colpo a vivere in mezzo a torri pericolanti di libri e minacciosi clienti che continuano a farle domande e a citarle scrittori ignoti. Tra discussioni sempre più appassionate sulla letteratura moderna giapponese, un incontro in un caffè con un timido sconosciuto e rivelazioni sulla storia d’amore di Satoru, scoprirà pian piano un modo di comunicare e di relazionarsi che parte dai libri per arrivare al cuore. Un modo di vivere più intimo e autentico, senza paura del confronto e di lasciarsi andare.

I miei giorni alla libreria Morisaki

森崎書店の日々

Eric Ozawa

The wise and charming international bestseller and hit Japanese movie—about a young woman who loses everything but finds herself—a tale of new beginnings, romantic and family relationships, and the comfort that can be found in books.  

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has enjoyed a relatively easy existence—until the day her charming boyfriend Kashikoi, the man she expected to wed, casually announces he’s been cheating on her and is marrying the other woman. Suddenly, Takako’s life is in freefall. She loses her job, her friends, and her acquaintances, and spirals into a deep depression. In the depths of her despair, she receives a call from her distant uncle Ojisan.

An unusual man who has always pursued something of an unconventional life, especially after his wife Momoko left him out of the blue five years earlier, Ojisan runs a second-hand bookshop in Jimbocho, Tokyo’s famous book district. Takako once looked down upon Ojisan’s life. Now, she reluctantly accepts his offer of the tiny room above the bookshop rent-free in exchange for helping out at the store. The move is temporary, until she can get her old life back. But in the months that follow, Takako surprises herself when she develops a passion for Japanese literature, becomes a regular at a local coffee shop where she befriends a graduate student, and eventually meets a young editor from a nearby publishing house who’s going through his own messy breakup. 

But just as she begins to find joy again, Kashikoi reappears, forcing Takako to rely once again on her uncle, whose own life has begun to unravel. Together, these seeming opposites work to understand each other and themselves as they continue to share the wisdom they’ve gained in the bookshop. 

A Novel

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

Martyna Melania Anastasia

Those memories of people you love, they never disappear. They go on warming your heart as long as you live.

It's important to stand still sometimes. Think of it as a little rest in the long journey of your life. This is your harbor. And your boat is just dropping anchor here for a little while. And after you're well rested, you can set sail again.

The act of seeing is no small thing. To see something is to be possessed by it. Sometimes it carries off a part of you, sometimes it's your whole soul. 

" (...) It was almost like that moment when you're watching a butterfly coming out if its chrysalis, and you're holding your breath, and you want to keep on watching..."

But, in those days, I really was like a butterfly waiting patiently to come out of its chrysalis. As I turned page after page, I was waiting for my chance to take flight.

Rather than getting older, she looked more like she'd shed anything that was unnecessary.

In the brisk early morning air, I sensed a faint sign of the spring to come. I looked straight ahead and kept going.

"There's one thing I want you to promise me," he said first as a preamble. Then he said, "Don't be afraid to love someone. When you fall in love, I want you to fall in love all the way. Even if it ends in heartache, please don't live a lonely life without love. I've been so worried that because of what happened you'll give up on falling in love. Love is wonderful. I don't want you to forget that. Those memories of people you love, they never disappear. They go on warming your heart as long as you live. When you get old like me, you'll understand. How about it—can you promise me?"

"The idea of this child growing up, experiencing so many things for the first time, absorbing so much—all of it brought me so much joy as if it were happening to me."

"But, I don't know, maybe it takes a long time to figure out what you're truly searching for. Maybe you spend your whole life just to figure out a small part of it." 

"I don't know. I think maybe I've been wasting my time, just doing nothing." 

"I don't think so. It's important to stand still sometimes. Think of it as a little rest in the long journey of your life. This is your harbor. And your boat is just dropping anchor here for a little while. And after you're well rested, you can set sail again."

exactly how this whole book felt to me <3

It's only in secondhand books that you can savor encounters like this, connections that transcend time. And that's how I learned to love the secondhand bookstore that handled these books, our Morisaki Bookshop. I realized how precious a chance I'd been given, to be a part of that little place, where you can feel the quiet flow of time. 

clara

"In the end, it doesn't matter if you're related by blood or if you spend years together in the same class at school or the same office; unless you really come face to face, you never really know someone at all.” 

It's only in secondhand books that you can savor encounters like this, connections that transcend time.

"I had too many ideals and ambitions for one person, and because of that, I ended up without a single one I could hold on to.”

"in those days, I really was like a butterfly waiting patiently to come out of its chrysalis. As I turned page after page, I was waiting for my chance to take flight." 

"Don't be afraid to love someone. When you fall in love, I want you to fall in love all the way. Even if it ends in heartache, please don't live a lonely life without love. I've been so worried that because of what happened you'll give up on falling in love. Love is wonderful. I don't want you to forget that. Those memories of people you love, they never disappear. They go on warming your heart as long as you live.

.. maybe it takes a long time to figure out what you're truly searching for. Maybe you spend your whole life just to figure out a small part of it." 

"I don't know. I think maybe I've been wasting my time, just doing nothing.!" 

nahis

This quote alone changed me. I have always been afraid of loving someone fully, thinking about the ways they will leave me hurt me so much. But, he is right. Don’t be afraid to love someone. Love is Wonderful even if it ends in heartache. 

There's one thing I want you to promise me," he said first as a preamble. Then he said, Don't be afraid to love someone. When you fall in love, I want you to fall in love all the way. Even if it ends in heartache, please don't live a lonely life without love. I've been so worried that because of what hap- pened you'll give up on falling in love. Love is wonderful. I don't want you to forget that. Those memo- ries of people you love, they never disappear. They go on warming your heart as long as you live. When you get old like me, you'll understand. How about it-can you promise me?"

Lindy

It's only in secondhand books that you can savor encounters like this, connections that transcend time. And that's how I learned to love the secondhand bookstore that handled these books, our Morisaki Bookshop.

It's important to stand still sometimes. Think of it as a little rest in the long journey of your life. This is your harbor. And your boat is just dropping anchor here for a little while. And after you're well rested, you can set sail again."

Os Meus Dias na Livraria Morisaki

Larissa Campos

Eu não tinha ideia de como responder. Imaginar a dor dessa pessoa estava além das minhas capacidades no momento. No entanto, eu conseguia entender a intensidade de seus senti-mentos. Diante disso, palavras simplistas não teriam nenhum significado. Tudo o que eu podia fazer era balançar a cabeça em silêncio.

Mas também ninguém nasce já sabendo o que quer da vida. A gente vai descobrindo o que quer à medida que vai vivendo.

—E eu aqui, sem fazer nada, desperdiçando minha vida...

—Aí é que você se engana. Isso também faz parte da vida.

Alberto Mariani

I’ve wanted to read this book for almost two years, but somehow I never found the time. Today I finally picked it up again and I ended up finishing it in one sitting. I kind of regret waiting this long, but I’m also grateful I finally got to read it.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop feels gentle and warm in a way that stayed with me long after I closed the last page. It reminded me of the quiet, tender nature of many J-literature books I love. It doesn’t have any heavy conflict, only the soft unfolding of a life that is slowly finding its way again. As someone who loves reading, I felt something warm settle inside me whenever Takako and her uncle shared their quiet days in the bookshop. I found myself wishing I could sit there too, surrounded by old books and that kind of peaceful silence.

These are some lines that lingered in my heart:

“Maybe it takes a long time to figure out what you’re truly searching for. Maybe you spend your whole life just to figure out a small part of it.”

“It’s important to stand still sometimes. Think of it as a little rest in the long journey of your life. This is your harbor. And your boat is just dropping anchor here for a little while. And after you’re well rested, you can set sail again.”

“No matter where you go, or how many books you read, you still know nothing, you haven’t seen anything. And that’s life. We live our lives trying to find our way. It’s like that Santōka Taneda poem, the one that goes, ‘On and on, in and in, and still the blue-green mountains.’”

星光

I’ve wanted to read this book for almost two years, but somehow I never found the time. Today I finally picked it up again and I ended up finishing it in one sitting. I kind of regret waiting this long, but I’m also grateful I finally got to read it.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop feels gentle and warm in a way that stayed with me long after I closed the last page. It reminded me of the quiet, tender nature of many J-literature books I love. It doesn’t have any heavy conflict, only the soft unfolding of a life that is slowly finding its way again. As someone who loves reading, I felt something warm settle inside me whenever Takako and her uncle shared their quiet days in the bookshop. I found myself wishing I could sit there too, surrounded by old books and that kind of peaceful silence.

These are some lines that lingered in my heart:

“Maybe it takes a long time to figure out what you’re truly searching for. Maybe you spend your whole life just to figure out a small part of it.”

“It’s important to stand still sometimes. Think of it as a little rest in the long journey of your life. This is your harbor. And your boat is just dropping anchor here for a little while. And after you’re well rested, you can set sail again.”

“No matter where you go, or how many books you read, you still know nothing, you haven’t seen anything. And that’s life. We live our lives trying to find our way. It’s like that Santōka Taneda poem, the one that goes, ‘On and on, in and in, and still the blue-green mountains.’”

Steph Chez

one of my best reads this year! this book had been on my tbr list for a long time, and i just had the chance to read it, and it was my best decision ever. i love that this book gives me heartwarming feelings; i even cried when i read it at 45% progress, like, sobbingly hard. i feel close with all of the characters in this book; it feels like i also live around jimbocho at morisaki bookshop as a people-watcher. it shows how i enjoyed my time a lot reading this book. along with a short-length page, of course it had my heart. can't wait to read the sequels!

love, kinanti

“human beings are full of contradictions.”

Bulan

kae back at it again by reading some japanese novella, and honestly, i really liked it. day at the morisaki bookshop by satoshi yagisawa was such a refreshing read—a simple slice-of-life story that felt comforting in the best way. it's the kind of book that quietly speaks to you, especially when you’re at a low point. i think it’s a perfect read for anyone who has ever felt like giving up after life throws something unexpected and painful. the way it shows healing through small moments, quiet routines, and the presence of books made me reflect on how sometimes, it’s okay to just slow down and let life slowly piece itself back together.

Touching story. I like anything that’s in relation to books and writers. Would’ve given it a 4 star except that I found the writing a little too cheesy at times but maybe I’m just jaded when it comes to happy stories.  

𝒟anielle

this book is perfect for those who feel like they've lost their spark or their love for life. it's the kind of book where nothing grand really happens, but if you ever want to just sit down and take a deep breath, learn to appreciate the little things that make life, this is exactly how this book feels to me. very warm, cozy, and healing. it was such a heartwarming read. thank you, takako, for taking me with you on your days at the morisaki bookshop! <3

light and feel good read— cant wait to see more of takako and uncle satoru’s journey

sofia mae

this book isn’t plot hungry. it was slow, steady, and intentional. people who’s not going through anything might find it hard to appreciate this book although i wasn’t feeling anything rough in particular it still felt comforting just to see how her life was narrated from this to that. i appreciate this book a lot. it is healing. 

this book is a warm, light, and comforting read. it feels like a gentle hug from someone who understands you’re exhausted with life, leading you to a cozy little bookshop filled with old books while you sip a warm cup of tea or coffee (just like takako always does). the story flows smoothly, without unnecessary complexity, yet carries an emotional depth that feels so relatable. 

for me, this book feels very light—perfect for beginners or anyone looking for an easy, relaxing read. it’s also great for those feeling burned out or stuck, as it reflects on life, loneliness, and how books can be a peaceful escape. but despite its introspective themes, it never feels heavy—just comforting and heartwarming. nothing is overly complicated or dragged out, making it such a pleasant experience!!!

pajiw

this book is a warm, light, and comforting read. it feels like a gentle hug from someone who understands you’re exhausted with life, leading you to a cozy little bookshop filled with old books while you sip a warm cup of tea or coffee (just like takako always does). the story flows smoothly, without unnecessary complexity, yet carries an emotional depth that feels so relatable. 

for me, this book feels very light—perfect for beginners or anyone looking for an easy, relaxing read. it’s also great for those feeling burned out or stuck, as it reflects on life, loneliness, and how books can be a peaceful escape. but despite its introspective themes, it never feels heavy—just comforting and heartwarming. nothing is overly complicated or dragged out, making it such a pleasant experience!!!

This book felt very cozy. It’s quite a short and quick read. I feel like it was kind of simple however it’s good. I felt like it was missing something.

Olivia

A short, heartwarming book about a young adult losing her way in life and finding it back. 

It’s a good time in my life to be reading this book, when there’s change and uncertainty ahead. It had a strangely grounding effect

Rebecca Joy Tan

A great slice of life book, if that’s what you’re looking for. I absolutely loved the first part! 

Olanda

The vibe in the middle was so cozy- I’d love to live there. But the main character lacked dimension, and the plot ended up kind of- I can see the beauty and the climax the author was trying to achieve, but it just didn’t emotionally build up to that much significance. 

At the end, it feels like you’re asking, “so what?” 

The vibe in the middle was so cozy- I’d love to live there. But the main character lacked dimension, and the plot ended up kind of- I can see the beauty and the climax the author was trying to achieve, but it just didn’t emotionally build up to that much significance. 

At the end, it feels like you’re asking, “so what?” 

Natasha Mok

Um livro curtinho e simples, que não mostra grandes acontecimentos e sim pequenos momentos que fazem diferenças enormes. A felicidade descrita no simples é de aquecer o coração e dar esperança.

It was definitely not what I expected. Filled with laughter and tears, it is a book for anyone who has loved a book in their life. The characters felt raw and alive, and their problems will surely be yours as well. 

i understand the hype for this book because it was really atmospheric and pretty :) and deep in an.. upfront way? dealing with rough topics without shame which was really refreshing. i wish i could speak japanese because the translation felt a bit clunky at times but that will always happen when you’re not reading it in its native language :) looking forward to the sequel yippee 

The story and plot isn't really my cup of tea but it was laden with comfort that I just want to get lost in Morisaki's old books, learn more about Japanese authors and have a cup of coffee in Jimbocho while I reflect on existence.

I also loved how the characters have their own significant spotlight. My favorite is Satoru Morisaki, the bookshop owner who gained maturity but never lost his childlike wonder. His viewpoints are admirable and somewhat similar to mine. 

The story and plot isn't really my cup of tea but it was laden with comfort that I just want to get lost in Morisaki's old books, learn more about Japanese authors and have a cup of coffee in Jimbocho while I reflect on existence.

I also loved how the characters have their own significant spotlight. My favorite is Satoru Morisaki, the bookshop owner who gained maturity but never lost his childlike wonder. His viewpoints are admirable and somewhat similar to mine. 

Quite an everyday kinda book with no obvious climax or turning point

victoria lim

i liked this for what it is. short slice of life where nothing much happens except breaking and mending relationships + discovering the small things that matter, and that’s sort of the point of existing for most of us

Alberto Mariani &
I miei giorni alla libreria Morisaki by Satoshi Yagisawa

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Alberto Mariani &I miei giorni alla libreria Morisaki by Satoshi Yagisawa

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Alberto Mariani &
I miei giorni alla libreria Morisaki by Satoshi Yagisawa