CURRENT TOPICS
October 1st, 2002 will mark the 70th year from the time Yushodo first opened its second hand bookshop in Jimbocho, Kanda, Tokyo. After the war, during which time the bookshop was closed for about ten years, it reopened as a limited company and started its book importing business in 1960. It is a bit difficult to explain how we ourselves have changed over the years and how the market has changed but in 2002 we have recognized the need to be much more open in our lines of business. These lines include import/export and publishing. It is also difficult to say what things will be like five years hence but the only thing that we do know is that the market will become even more globalized thereby needing stronger and closer cooperation world wide.
On our upcoming 70th anniversary, we once again confirm that we aim to be a better firm and not necessarily a larger firm, by selecting more professional lines and by handling actual physical products and not competing with online products. We aim to become a dispatcher of contents and not just a distributor.
In this issue of Pinus, I am pleased to announce our 70th anniversary events.
1 . Publishing of Series III of Shin-ikoku Sosho (10 volumes)
We had already published Series I and II of Shin-ikoku Sosho for a total of 25 volumes. Through this publishing effort, we have become recognized by scholars as an academic publisher. For those of you who may not know this particular title, Shin-ikoku Sosho comprises translations of books written by Europeans who lived in Japan in the mid 19th century, such as Perry, Kaempfer etc. This work is particularly important to Japanese in that it gives us a European view of Japan of more than 100 years ago. Series III will be concluded by the end of June 2003. While publishing academic books is rather difficult, we have endeavored to conclude this long-term project as a part of our 70th anniversary events.
2. May 15-17, 2002 - Yushodo Forum
In  May we were proud to invite Mr. Winston S. Churchill, grandson of former Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, as our main speaker at the Yushodo Forum. Mr. Churchill spoke on the topic of "Sir Winston Churchill, the Man, His Life and His Archive" and more than 500 guests attended the Forum. Together with the other panelist speakers at the Forum, we Japanese were strongly impacted upon hearing his and the other speakers' comments. It also happens that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the UK-Japan Alliance and on the 15th we were invited to the British Embassy by the Ambassador.
Gale Group Inc. is now in the process of microfilming The Sir Winston Churchill Papers at Churchill College of Cambridge University. This archive comprises over 1,000,000 items from Winston S. Churchill, who is considered to be one of the greatest historical figures of the 20th century. This film will be used by scholars for research and it should be extremely useful for the study of modern world history.
3. Parker Library Series
Early spring we had signed a co-publishing contract with Faksimile Verlag of Luzerne and Corpus Christi College of Cambridge to produce high quality facsimiles of the treasures of the Parker Library. The first facsimile that we will publish is known as "The Peterborough Bestiary" (MS 53, fol. 189-210v) and we will be making our official announcement soon. For this co-publishing project, while considered small, it is a first trial and challenge for our firm but as we continue our preparations, we are looking forward to achieving good results.
4. Yushodo 70th anniversary week, from November 18th
Even though it has been unofficially announced, we will highlight Yushodo's 70th anniversary during this week. We plan to have our rare book fair, rare book appraisals and on November 19th, a "thanks to clients" reception for our overseas guests and Japanese clients all at a top class hotel in Tokyo. At the Tokyo Library Fair itself (November 20, 21 & 22 at Tokyo Forum), we will have our own exhibition in our booth as usual. Also at the Library Fair site, we will again hold our seminar, at which time we will announce the winners of the 3rd Jubilee Yushodo Gesner Awards.
Returning to the earlier part of this year, I participated both in the Taipei International Book Exhibition and the Asia and Pacific Publishers Annual Conference in Bangkok. It was the first time for Yushodo to have a booth at TIBE. My role in both of these events was as chairman of the Japan Book Publishers International Committee and I felt that it was important that we recognize our important role in these markets and our cooperation with other Asian publishers as well.
In  early June, I then traveled to London and Cambridge. My visit occurred at the same time as the Queen's Jubilee and I personally could experience the healthy and vibrant British economy. I visited both Corpus Christi College and Churchill College of Cambridge. After that, I then visited the London Antiquarian Book Fair where I had the wonderful opportunity to meet many of my old friends and dealers and from whom I asked their cooperation in our Tokyo book fair in November and at the events of our 70th anniversary.
Finally as owner and CEO of the Yushodo Group, despite the difficult times that we are experiencing in our lines of business, I continue to be encouraged toward the realization of my dream for the future. I hope to see you all soon and especially for our 70th anniversary the week of November 18th, should you have the chance to be in Japan at that time.
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