A young office-going woman’s life is falling apart at the seams – her boyfriend is marrying another woman and she has just lost her job. After spending weeks wallowing, a call from her uncle shakes her out of her reverie; she’s been summoned to help out with the family’s old bookshop. As months pass, she discovers the worlds hidden away in the dusty tomes littering every surface. With each book, she regains a piece of herself and finds community among the eccentric regulars and shopkeepers who populate the neighbourhood.
This is the story of the bestselling Japanese novel Days at the Morisaki Bookshop which, since its release three years ago, has sold around 3,00,000 copies in India alone, the highest in the world after the UK. Publishers call it a ‘genre-defining book’ that’s kicked off the popularity of cosy Japanese fiction in India. “I found it at a time when I was at crossroads just like the character, and I took comfort from her navigating it one day at a time,” explains content writer Avanthika JP, who stumbled on this title on a shopping site.
Since then, she’s read other popular cosy titles like What You’re Looking for is in the Library and Sweet Bean Paste. Many of these books which the internet calls cosy Japanese fiction have settings like cafés, libraries, or bookshops, a slow pace, and a slice of life plot. The appeal, as the genre’s Gen Z fans explain, is in the calm it inspires, especially in the face of information overload. “There’s a feeling of reassurance, it’s like the author is patting you, telling you everything’s going to be alright,” says writer Mazin Iqbal.
Nothing much happens in these books, there’s no crazy adventure or dramatic backstory, completing the escape into the novel’s world. “I felt like I slowed down,’ that’s what I’ve been hearing from readers about their charm,” says Rahul Dixit, SVP Sales at Harper Collins. Publishers point to the word of mouth around these short, easy-to-read titles, alongside social media buzz as the driving force behind the popularity. The hype all over bookstagram, booktube, and in other countries, booktok, is evident with posts with cosy Japanese books and their beautifully illustrated covers, posed carefully on grass or surrounded by a warm drinks, flowers, or other paraphernalia, often accompanied by reviews and recommendations. Avanthika explains, “While I bought my first cosy Japanese book randomly, I learnt about the others on social media.”
How much of a role does the look of the books have in drawing readers? Dixit explains, “The shareability of these books on social media is their strongest magic; it definitely accelerates the sales. The covers are minimalistic which relates with the Japanese lifestyle that we’re exposed to.”
This trend is also the result of a long-developing wave in publishing of works in translation getting the support to flourish. “After The Vegetarian by Han Kang won the Man Booker Prize about a decade ago, there has been interest in regional translations from Western publishers. Before that, there were some companies doing translation, but they had not come to the main stage,” notices Manoj Satti, senior VP, product and marketing, Penguin Random House, India.
This, along with interest in Asian culture – anime, manga, K-pop, and K dramas – reaching a peak in the last few years, provided the perfect space for cosy Japanese fiction to emerge and also extend to cosy Korean fiction like Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop and The Second Chance Convenience Store.
Whether getting into these quick reads is acting as a gateway into young readers exploring more ‘serious’ or literary works in Japanese is up for debate. “Sometimes you see people who start with dark academia or young adult fiction and are stuck on it forever. But for the most part, reading comparatively easy reads leads people to reading more challenging things,” says Iqbal while Avanthika questions what counts as ‘serious’ literature, saying, “For me, cosy Japanese fiction itself talks about very serious issues – people dealing with issues that many adults face.”