The charm lies in the potential for customers to encounter books that they might not otherwise.

As Takeshi Okazaki sipped on a coffee and looked around, he could not help but feel relaxed. Surrounded by books at a book cafe, he felt as though something emanating from the pages was putting him at ease.

“I feel as though something coming from the spine of a book calms everyone down,” Okazaki, a book reviewer, said at beco cafe that opened three years ago near Nishi-Ogikubo Station in Suginami Ward, Tokyo.

Beco cafe houses a plethora of books selected by the owner ― novels, photo collections, manga and the complete works of famous writers. Subcultural books such as “Bessatsu Takarajima” are conspicuous among the stacks in the shop’s soft ambiance.

It is a typical book cafe, a place where customers can step out of the haywire grind of workaday life into a calm setting where they’re free to casually peruse books with a drink at hand. Their charm lies in the potential for customers to encounter books that they might not otherwise. It’s a unique environment where book lovers can interact with books, distinct from the home or library.

Okazaki, born in Osaka Prefecture in 1957, is a high school teacher turned freelance writer. He mainly writes about used book culture and shops, and contributes book reviews to newspapers and magazines.

For Okazaki, who is a prolific reader, a book cafe is a stress-free place to read at his own pace in a comfortable chair or sofa.

“There’s something about casually reading in a bookstore that makes even us middle-aged men look good,” he said as he flipped through a photo collection from a Thomas Edison exhibition.

“Today we can read digital books, but they lack the tactile charm of handling an actual volume. In a book cafe, you can relish the texture of the paper and delight in a tome’s heft,” Okazaki said.

He often selects essays and collections of short stories to read, and skims through chapters that pique his interest. He also recommends skipping through sections of a long novel you’ve never read, and reading a section from the middle.

“I don’t think you have to read books in their entirety. Sometimes if I leaf through a book, a phrase or two will jump out at me that I like,” he added.

At some book cafes, the owners prepare a special space to feature notable or rare books of their choosing, which perhaps were published long ago or are not easily found at normal bookstores.

Patrons who tire of reading can take a moment to listen to music that flows in the background to feel refreshed.

According to Okazaki, book cafes of this type began appearing about 15 years ago and have been increasing since. Travelers passing through small towns sometimes frequent such shops to unwind.

“Many book cafes also provide delicious coffee or free leaflets prepared by other customers about their personal activities or essays on books available at the shop,” Okazaki said.

Beco cafe provides such leaflets, as well as an opportunity to hold exhibitions of original art or discussion events.

Okazaki recommended another book cafe, Sabo Koenji Shorin, near JR Koenji Station in Suginami Ward, Tokyo. It offers minipublications by individuals rarely found in a bookstore.

According to Okazaki, many book cafes are tucked away in narrow alleys, not along main streets.

“It’s really fun to enter a book cafe that I stumbled across while on a walk, and to encounter a book there,” Okazaki said. “Book cafes make our lives richer.”

By Takashi Sakinaga

(Yomiuri Shimbun)