CURRENT TOPICS
With one month before the new Millennium, I have decided to change the format of the next issue of Pinus 2000, number 49 through our on-line web page. This decision represents a continuous effort on our part to use the current media in order to strengthen our contacts with our customers. For this next issue, we will first send a post card to all former subscribers listing the titles of the articles. If someone, who may not be accustomed to using the web page, wishes to receive copies of the articles, we will then send Xerox copies either by mail or by fax to that person. While our web page will have most of the contents of the next issue of Pinus, there will be some articles for which only summaries will be shown and upon request we will send full copies of those particular articles. For the future we plan to expand the use of our web page, using it for both informational and promotional materials as well as for advertising. Because our purpose is not aimed at the general public but more to contacting our clients both in Japan and throughout the world, we welcome new clients through this new system. Already the Yushodo web page has become well known in Jas professional content.
I know well that the majority of people still wish to purchase imported books, even higher priced ones like our rare antiquarian books, after seeing them with their own eyes and inspecting them with their own hands. Through book fairs and through the efforts of our sales staff, we continually try to bring our materials to the customer so that they will have every opportunity to see them and inspect them. As human beings, I believe that not only do we view books as a source of information but also we think of them as a "companion," as something we can read in a comfortable atmosphere by the light of a room lamp and as something which will always be on the bookshelf and which can be taken down and enjoyed with pleasure. As Mr. Kawashima, our president, had mentioned in his opening address at this year's Yushodo Forum, the special characteristic of Yushodo continues to be our human approach in our face to face, or "hands on" approach, dealings with all our customers.
First I wish to report about the period from the summer to the end of this year where Yushodo has been involved in events, exhibitions and fairs etc. either by itself or as one of the participants. At the end of September, the 21st Congress of International Bibliophiles opened in Japan for the first time in Asia. Nearly 100 well-known bibliophiles from 11 nations gathered together and visited nine major Japanese libraries which housed collections of historical Japanese materials. The meetings started in Kyoto and proceeded to Nara, Fukuchiyama, Osaka, Tokyo, Hakone, Yamagata, Sendai and Nikko. During the Congress we were honored to be able to show many early Japanese books and works of calligraphy. Many of these works are national treasures and so this was an excellent chance to compare the history of Japanese books with that of European ones. I was also honored to act as the Congress Director and through the efforts and cooperation and support of member of AIB in Japan and Yushodo staff, all events proceedeoand as planned.
Yushodo sent one young staff each to the antiquarian book fairs held in both California and London. Also at the invitation of Bell & Howell Learning & Information, two more staff attended its training seminar held in Kuala Lumpur in July. Another international event that Yushodo will initiate includes the 6th Hong Kong International Antiquarian Books and Print Fair in December. This is hosted in cooperation with Swindon Book Company of Hong Kong and will be held at the Prince Hotel in Hong Kong.
Mid-October proved to be a very busy and important period for Yushodo. The very first Tokyo Library Fair, under the management of Japan Culture Corp., one of our subsidiaries, was held at the Tokyo Forum in central Tokyo from October 13 - 15. I mentioned this event in the last issue of Pinus and this is the first time in Japan that a national fair used the name LIBRARY in its venue. With over 70 exhibitors, participation exceeded 14,000 people with the number being broken down into librarians and library users, in other words, very professional visitors. We also received a lot of questionnaires back from the participants giving us a good basis for next year's fair. Since this year coincided exactly at the same time as Frankfurt Book Fair, we did not send out any invitations to overseas companies due to the conflict but I am strongly considering doing so for next year's fair which is planned for November 16-18, 2000 and which will have twice the space as this year's. As you may know 80% or more of books and figuage materials imported into Japan go to the library market and so the fair is an excellent venue to bring your materials to this market. We also had equipment manufacturers and on-line systems' companies displaying their products as well.
 During the library fair, Yushodo held its regular annual Antiquarian Book Fair in quite a large space taken at the fair. While we experienced sales as usual, the main thrust of having the antiquarian book fair was to "explain Yushodo" as the best and foremost antiquarian book dealer in Japan and to introduce the world of antiquarian books to visitors. Also during this time, we had our Yushodo Forum '99 at a separate meeting room in Tokyo Forum, which also gave our clients a place to meet each other. For Forum '99, Mr. Maezono lectured on "Copyright and the Library" and Prof. Kato on "Commodore Perry Japan Expedition and US- Japan Relations." After the lectures, we held our Yushodo Gesner Awards Ceremony. From more than 110 titles submitted for consideration, the gold award was presented for "Aisho kyo" by Prof. Shigeru Kashima (Books on Books) and for "Ruskin in Japan 1890-1940: Nature for Art, Art for Life" edited by Mr. Toshio Watanabe and their exhibition committee (Bibliography and Index). The silver awawresented for "Wagakuni ni okeru Eigogaku Kenkyu Bunken Shoshi 1900-1996" by Prof. Matsuji Shimada and for "Documentary Shinko Sakkyokuka Renmei, Senzen no Sakkyokukatachi 1930-1940" by Kunitachi Music College Library (Bibliography and Index). As you may remember the Gesner award was started in 1997 in commemoration of Yushodo's 65th anniversary to recognize those scholars who have written works on bibliographical publications and works on books about books. Awards total 1.2 million yen. The next Gesner announcement will be in July 2000 with the awards ceremony to be held in autumn of 2001.
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| Bibliography and Index - Mr.Watanabe and Their exhibition committee. |
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books on books - Prof. Shigeru Kashima |
Due to global-sized reorganizations and mergers of firms with whom we have been doing business for a long time and for whom we have been exclusive agents in Japan, I can tell you that we are well prepared for the new millennium and the new information on-line era. Under these circumstances however, I still believe it is most important to keep to our original intent of being a 'real book dealer and a good publisher.' In February, Yushodo will mark 40 years as a 'Limited' (Ltd.) company in handling western books. On this occasion it is once again I confirm our promise that along with the cooperation of our friends overseas, we will remain a specialist in our market.
From all of here at Yushodo, we send you our best wishes for a pleasant winter and seasons greeting in the coming holiday season.
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