Reading Promotion Month: Consciously Make Time to Interact with Books

Editorial

16:27 JST, October 26, 2025

The trend away from reading books is said to be serious, but many people must want to read books if given the opportunity. Why not forget the hustle and bustle of daily life for just a little while and make some time to pick up a book?

“Autumn reading promotion month” has begun. In a Yomiuri Shimbun survey, 54% of respondents said they had not read a single book in the past month, while 72% expressed a desire to read more books. The most common reason for not reading was that they did not have time.

Of course it is going to be difficult to make time to read books when people are caught up in work, household chores or childcare. Many people also may find themselves checking their smartphones. It seems necessary to consciously secure time for reading.

Reading short stories or poetry during short breaks while working or doing household chores is one good option. Another approach is to set a specific time each day for reading. An unexpected encounter with a single book could have a profound impact on the rest of a person’s life.

In his high school days, Shimon Sakaguchi, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, avidly read “Man’s Search for Meaning,” which depicts Nazi Germany’s concentration camps.

Susumu Kitagawa, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was reportedly inspired by “Tensai no Sekai” (The world of genius) written by Hideki Yukawa, the first Japanese Nobel laureate.

It can be said that cultivating knowledge by developing familiarity with books laid the foundation for such world-class achievements.

This year, which marks 80 years since the end of World War II, there have been articles featuring war survivors who spoke of their desire for printed works. When he was deployed during the war, manga artist Shigeru Mizuki reportedly carried books that recorded the words and deeds of literary giant Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Many soldiers are said to have headed to the battlefield carrying the “Manyoshu,” the oldest extant collection of Japanese waka poetry.

Those solders likely sought to maintain inner peace by getting in touch with the thoughts of people from the past and the pure emotions expressed in waka poems. Why not pick up a classic when unsure about what to read? Classics have the reassuring quality of having been read by people throughout the ages, and many of them are available in affordable paperback editions.

One problem is the decline in the number of bookstores where encounters with such books could occur. The number of municipalities without a single bookstore has continued to rise, reaching 498 at the end of August. This situation is particularly serious in regional areas.

During this year’s reading promotion month campaign, events such as those focusing on writers and works linked to each local area are being held nationwide. Bookstores, which are cultural hubs for local communities, must be protected.

Independently run bookstores, which are not affiliated with major chains, have recently drawn public attention. Owners of such bookstores compete to show individuality by thinking up interesting book selections and setting up cafes or art galleries adjacent to the stores. Efforts to enhance the appeal of bookstores themselves are also essential.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 26, 2025)