CURRENT TOPICS
The previous six months were the most influential and interesting period in all of my 40 years business experience since I stated as an academic book importer and publisher. The slow-down has affected several things directly related to our business, for example, normal communications and a delay of supplies since the World Trade Center attack. The Japanese economy has been hit rather hard in this post war period and the attack had a rather negative impact on all of us. At the same time, the hammer prices at the New York and London auction houses have reached unbelievable highs - even more so than our expectations and I wonder who has bought such items. Why do rare books still hold their value and command such high prices even at a time of economic slow down?
At present the total publishing industry in Japan is now approximately 20 billion U.S.D. but this figure is actually about 10% less when compared to five years ago. Of this amount, only 4%, or approximately 800 million dollars, is for materials in other languages, mainly English. A newer and younger type of person now manages the big worldwide enterprises and they believe that it is very possible to do more business in Japan, perhaps close to 10% of the total book industry. Therefore I have suggested to them that now is the time to consider joint ventures and merge with Japanese book publishers and I know that there are some excellent publishers who are looking to establish a strong presence for the future. So I think it is very possible that a capital investment wave will come to Japan from the worldwide publishing industry. Personally I am now in the position to cooperate with some overseas partners and it should be possible to make some announcements in 2002.
In September, I personally visited the cities of Catalonia, Barcelona, Valencia, and Majorca and then participated in the International Association of Bibliophiles annual meeting. During the meeting, the members of the Association visited more than ten libraries in addition to viewing private collections. I received a lot of information at this time and it is always a pleasure to meet with lots of friends overseas. At Barcelona, Mr. Vicens, president of the International Publishers Association, invited me to dinner and at that time he expressed his apprehension that many exhibitors would possibly cancel going to the Frankfurt Book Fair. As many of you may know, this year's Book Fair was a little more quiet than usual with many executives having cancelled their attendance.
A new project that we have undertaken is a co-publication of the illuminated manuscripts of the Bury Bible with Boydell & Brewer. This Bible is owned by the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College. In the past Japanese book importers would have bought several copies from the publisher for further sale here in Japan at a high mark up. However now due to the influence of the Internet, customers can research prices on the Net and so we can only mark up items a little along with reasonable handling charges. This consequently means that the inventories of book dealers have been reduced when compared to before. Yushodo is considering increasing its position in the co-publishing lines with overseas partners. Of course, this always carries some potential risk but we are patiently developing this line. We of course welcome your ideas in advance and it is always possible to discuss potential projects as co-publishers with you.
Due to budget cuts, the Japanese academic market has been rather difficult for some time now but I believe that as far as university libraries are concerned, they still must buy if we continue to offer them valuable and important items. Therefore we shall always continue our efforts in this regard.
As one of the leading sponsors, Yushodo cooperated in the Tokyo Library Fair in mid-November. With approximately 17,000 attendees, we all had the chance to meet and talk with many clients at our booth. Also Mr. Paul Tucci, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing & Sales of Thomson Learning, gave a speech to librarians at the Yushodo Forum, which is organized by us.
In 2002 Yushodo will mark its 70th anniversary since the time Yushodo started as a second hand bookshop in 1932 in Kanda. Of these 70 years, we have been in operation for 42 years as a book importer. I am of the opinion that 2002 will be a very challenging year and that the market will change as well. This means that we too must change ourselves in order to meet this challenge. During the week of November 18th, 2002, we plan to have our 70th anniversary reception during the time of the book fair in Tokyo. So if you do have the chance to travel to Japan in the autumn, perhaps you might think of scheduling your travel plans during this particular time. We would be honored to have you attend our reception and participate in any events to be held during that week.
Before closing, I would once again enlist your continued support and cooperation with us in the New Year. |
