49 pages • 1 hour read
Satoshi Yagisawa, Transl. Eric OzawaDays at the Morisaki Bookshop
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Role of Literature in Self-Discovery
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses abortion and child loss.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop follows the personal development of Takako as she recovers from heartbreak and finds new confidence and direction in her life. Much of her growth stems from her relationship with her uncle, Satoru, and the kindness and patience he extends to her. Satoru is not the only influence on Takako, however, as her discovery of the magic of reading pushes her out of her isolation and into a brand-new world with a new outlook. Through Takako’s character arc, the novel explores the role of literature in self-discovery.
As Takako begins reading more and more, she finds herself drawn out of her depression. The Morisaki Bookshop is a secondhand bookshop, meaning that each book she chooses has been read before. When she finds that their previous owners were moved by similar passages in novels, Takako feels a new kinship: “At some point in the past, someone reading this book had felt moved to take a pen and draw a line under these words. It made me happy to think that because I had been moved by that same passage too, I was now connected to that stranger” (36). This shared moment on the page validates her feelings and experiences, making her feel less lonely.
Takako also learns from the books she reads by taking in new experiences that often speak to her and her own struggles. In the aftermath of her breakup with Hideaki, Takako is vulnerable and unsure about love. This leads to Satoru begging her to stay open to love despite its pain, and Takako takes his advice, developing feelings for Wada. Wada reads Up the Hill, over and over again, clearly feeling connected to its story and characters. When Takako reads it herself, she not only finds a connection with Wada, but also feels the emotional pain of the protagonist, Matsugorō: “Matsugorō’s painful, single-minded obsession hit home for me. After I finished the book, my heart fell silent. Tears ran down my cheeks and dropped onto the book, leaving little stains on the pages” (102). Takako knows what it means to feel love and be met with betrayal. Takako can commiserate with the unfairness of love in life, and the pain that comes with it.
By reading a book that she knows Wada connects with, Takako discovers a new sense of self. On one level, she feels validated in the pain she feels for Hideaki’s betrayal, while on the other, she finds a connection with Wada. Their shared love of reading ultimately brings them together, helping them learn more about themselves while also discovering their love for one another.
Building Community to Combat Loneliness
Throughout the novel, both Takako and other characters frequently confront intense loneliness in their lives. For Takako, loneliness overwhelms her in the aftermath of her breakup with Hideaki, while her uncle deals with loneliness in the years following Momoko’s disappearance. Both characters fight this loneliness by building relationships with each other and other members of their community.
Both Satoru and Takako find support in the other during these trying times, demonstrating the importance of community in combatting loneliness. Satoru makes this claim early in the novel when discussing his small business and its survival in the book-selling world: “Even though we think of it as an independent business, what matters in the industry more than anything are the relationships you have with people. I guess that’s probably true of the world in general” (22). Satoru knows that the success of the Morisaki bookshop depends on its relationship with other vendors as well as customers. Satoru needs connections to buy and sell books. He also needs reliable customers who feel comfortable in the store and will loyally support it. The example of the store is applicable to Takako’s personal life as well, as she needs people in her life to loyally support her and keep her from crumbling under the weight of her own loneliness.
Other characters also seek community to overcome their sorrows. Wada waits alone for an ex-girlfriend who will not give him another chance, and gradually begins to heal after connecting with Takako. Momoko battles her own inhibitions in reaching out to others after many painful years. When Momoko leaves Satoru initially, she provides no context and disappears. When she returns, she refuses to explain her disappearance and is evasive when Takako asks questions. On their trip into the mountains, however, Momoko finally reveals to Takako why she came back, and how her hesitancy to share her diagnosis with anyone is a result of her own loneliness: “‘I guess I wanted to tell someone after all,’ Momoko said softly. ‘I just wanted to open up to someone […] about leaving […] about getting sick. And I knew that if I asked you not to tell Satoru, that you would keep my secret’” (134).
Momoko isolates herself because of the pain she feels over the loss of her and Satoru’s child. When she returns to Satoru, she struggles to break free from this loneliness and open back up to her husband. However, through the development of her relationship with Takako, Momoko comes to trust her niece and shares her story. The relationship and community Momoko and Takako cultivate allows Momoko to be more open, helping her ultimately to embrace the community and love her other friends and her husband offer her.
The Detrimental Impact of Heartbreak on Confidence
Takako’s struggles with loneliness throughout Days at the Morisaki Bookshop are a result of her breakup with Hideaki. However, loneliness is not the only detrimental aspect of their split, as the heartache Takako feels seriously hinders her own self-confidence.
Hideaki’s betrayal causes massive upheaval in Takako’s life, as she must face the reality that her feelings are unrequited and the life she thought she had is not real. She falls into a depression, sleeping her days away to escape the sadness that plagues her. She is not confident in her ability to make it through the breakup, and avoids thinking about it at all costs: “I slept and slept and wished I could sleep forever. In my dreams, I didn’t have to think of those awful things. My dreams were like the finest, sweetest honey. And I was like a honeybee, flying in search of more” (24). Her lack of self-confidence drives her to be anti-social and hide from the world and herself.
Takako is not the only character to feel the sting of heartbreak and see their life and identity change because of it. Wada also undergoes a crisis of confidence after his girlfriend leaves him. He feels so lost without her that he continues to sit and wait in the coffee shop for her, hoping that she will eventually return to him there. When Takako meets him, he is still waiting. His heartbreak initially leaves him unable to connect romantically with Takako, as his confidence is still at a low ebb and he lacks the emotional strength to risk his heart once again in a new relationship.
Momoko also feels heartbreak throughout her life, and its impact reverberates across multiple relationships. When Momoko is young, she is in love with a man in Paris, and when she becomes pregnant, she is excited to build the family she always wanted with him. When he reveals he already has a family, Momoko suffers a crisis of confidence and gets an abortion, unwilling to hurt others: “I didn’t have the confidence to find happiness by causing someone else so much pain, or the courage to pay that price and go on living. Afterward, I regretted it so much I wanted to die” (127). Similarly, when her child with Satoru is stillborn, Momoko cannot move on from her sadness, and without the confidence to depend on Satoru, leaves.
Thus, through the heartbreaks of these three characters, the novel examines the ways in which different people can lose confidence through various forms of heartbreak and loss. While each character eventually learns how to regain his or her confidence, the novel depicts this as a slow, gradual process that requires support and patience.
