PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
For the first half of this new millennium, I am pleased to bring you our new edition of Pinus, No. 49 via Yushodo's on-line web page.
 First, as a member of the Japan Publishers Association, I had the opportunity to participate in the 26th Congress of International Publishers Association held at Buenos Aires. Approximately 800 publishers from around the world, comprising nearly 50 nations, participated in the Congress. All members generally remarked about the changed atmosphere in the publishing world when compared to four years ago at Barcelona. It was also noted that new capital along with new technology has come to the publishing society. During the Congress I was quite pleased to have had the chance to take part in a panel discussion with a 15-minute presentation "Joint Venture Publishing, Cooperation in the New Global Age." Upon request, I would be quite pleased to send a copy of the full text of my speech to those readers who may wish to have one. Please send your request to me by fax81-3-3351-5855 or e-mail intl@yushodo.co.jp
From North to South, East to West, English-speaking to non-English speaking countries, on-line or paper, Western culture compared to Eastern culture...what is the meaning of books for humankind? Are books only to be used as sources of information? All of these things and questions have caused me to deeply ponder the role of publishers. Anyway, I can honestly say that the Congress was a highly unique and important experience for me.
Toward the new century and at the start of the millennium, Yushodo has changed in two ways. The first way has been an organizational management change. Fundamentally management has been divided into two sections with the first section continuing our focus on our traditional sales network. This means the university library market will still continue to be the main pillar of Yushodo as it is most important to sell imported high level academic source materials and original rare books to this market. The second way concerns Yushodo's overseas contacts and its development of the Japanese market in creating a suitable environment in the market. This means that with our investment of time and human resources backed up by our younger staff, we would work and cooperate together with overseas publishers and distributors toward development and growth in the market.
Through the support of the government budget, many universities have selected materials from Yushodo's inventory, especially microform products and rare book collections, materials, which only Yushodo was able to supply. In this age of on-line and instant access to all sorts of materials, it is quite possible for librarians to gather various kinds of information and details as well as pricing on materials from around the world. While this is beneficial to university libraries, we however continually suggest to our clients that it is necessary for them to have the actual source materials in their own libraries. If they do hold such source materials, then they themselves not only keep their own status (as libraries) but also they are able to deliver or send out such information (about the source materials) to other user libraries as well.
Once again the Tokyo International Book Fair was held April 20-23 at the Tokyo Big Sight. This year commemorated the 400th anniversary in the establishment of country to country relations between The Netherlands and Japan. More than 40,000 people attended the fair and Yushodo had its own booth as well. This year we promoted our own publications "Foreigners View of Japan Series" and "The Time Atlas of the World," this being the millennium edition and having been sold in Japan by us as the exclusive agent.  Close to 1500 copies have already been sold to date. We would be happy to send you our beautiful pamphlet upon request.
The 2nd Tokyo Library Fair, under the management of the JCC Library Fair Committee, will be held this coming November 16 - 18. More than 80 percent of imported books and materials go to the library market and so the fair is an excellent opportunity to display your materials either at your own stand or in conjunction with local dealers. Yushodo has strongly supported this fair from the beginning and we welcome your participation and exhibit. The fair also provides a good chance for you to exchange information with librarians as well as get a good grasp of the trends in the library market in the future. Yushodo is willing to cooperate with you at your request and I would ask that you contact our international division for further information.
 On February 1st, we had our own reception at Chinzanso Restaurant on the occasion of Yushodo's 40th anniversary of having been incorporated as a Limited (Ltd.) company. Not only our employees but also our suppliers such as printers, bankers, delivery companies, microfilm companies, advertising agents, editorial agents etc. were invited to the reception. On this occasion, we all reaffirmed that "In our specialist area, we have always aimed to be not only the best firm in Japan but also foremost leader in the world." In 2002 Yushodo will celebrate its 70th anniversary since its foundation as a second hand book store in Tokyo. Our challenge remains to start again even in this changeable era.
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