Government Outlines Plan to Revitalize Bookstores; Measures to Include Use of IC Tags to Facilitate Inventory Management

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:09 JST, June 9, 2025

The government will promote bookstores making widespread use of IC tags and bringing in related digital equipment to allow for more efficient inventory management and overall improved business operations and distribution, which they hope will position neighborhood bookstores as cultural hubs for their communities.

The government has compiled an outline for a plan to revitalize bookstores in Japan, part of efforts to halt their decline.

Regarding purchase returns, one of the causes of rising book distribution costs, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry will serve as an office for a study group involving publishers, distributors and bookstores to explore measures to curb this phenomenon.

A major feature of the plan is that it includes efforts to support the operational efficiency of bookstores. The publishing industry is characterized by the fact that it involves a wide variety of products in small quantities, with about 65,000 new titles published annually. IC tags, which could be attached to books in the form of bookmarks or labels, could significantly reduce the burden of tasks such as detailed inventory control and shipment adjustments. Necessary steps will be taken to subsidize the introduction of IC tag readers and other necessary digital equipment to bookstores.

Booksellers can return unsold newly released books and magazines to publishers within a designated period, but the proportion of copies that are ultimately returned has reached 30% for books and more than 40% for magazines. The study group will discuss ways to reduce the rate of returns and increase profits for bookstores by utilizing IC tag data and others to determine appropriate shipment volumes.

According to the Japan Publishing Organization for Information Infrastructure Development, the number of bookstores in Japan has fallen to about 10,400 in a little more than 20 years, half of what it was before.

In March last year, the ministry formed a team to promote bookstores under the direct supervision of the ministry’s head.

In February, The Yomiuri Shimbun and Kodansha Ltd. announced their own joint proposal for revitalizing bookstores.

The latest government plan incorporates elements from that proposal, including measures to reduce the burden of cashless payments for bookstores and collaboration between bookstores and libraries, as well as the use of picture book specialists.