Govt Aims to Revitalize Bookstores by Advancing DX; IC Tags, Readers May Help Streamline Inventory

By Shin Kitamura and Hiromasa Takeda / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

6:00 JST, June 12, 2025

Amid the severe decline of neighborhood bookstores, the government plans to revitalize bookstores by promoting their digital transformation (DX), notably through the widespread adoption of IC tags for books.

The plan, unveiled Tuesday, is characterized by its support for improving the operational efficiency of such bookstores and promoting broader collaboration with local governments and libraries.

This new plan shares many common points with the joint proposal for revitalizing bookstores that The Yomiuri Shimbun and major publisher Kodansha Ltd. announced in February.

Intergovernmental structure

At a press conference following Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto said: “In my home prefecture of Gifu, the number of bookstores has also significantly decreased. I am concerned about the current situation.”

Currently, more than a quarter of municipalities nationwide have no physical bookstores, as people have moved away from reading printed text due partly to the widespread adoption of the internet.

The “bookstore promotion project team,” established by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry in March last year and directly controlled by the minister, has identified key issues and held repeated discussions with various ministries and agencies.

A key feature of this plan is its intergovernmental agency structure, which brings together organizations such as the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry; the Cultural Affairs Agency; and the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.

Returned book rates

Specifically, the plan details support for enhancing bookstores’ operational efficiency by promoting the widespread adoption of IC tags for books and offering subsidies for acquiring IC tag readers and other necessary equipment.

Although bookstores can return unsold newly published books and magazines to publishers within a set period, a significant gap between supply and demand remains evident. The return rate is 33.2% for books and 43.8% for magazines.

IC tags attached to books as bookmarks or label stickers facilitate inventory management using radio waves. This allows bookstores to instantly identify and order popular titles and enables publishers and distributors to respond more quickly.

The movement toward DX in bookstores using IC tags has been expanding since the beginning of this year.

In January, PubteX — a company jointly funded by trading company Marubeni Corp. and publishers Kodansha, Shogakukan Inc. and Shueisha Inc. — launched a commercial service for publishers and bookstores that uses IC tags.

The number of publishers using the tags has grown from four to 13, including those currently in negotiations. Additionally, it is projected that 100 or so stores will adopt the system by the end of fiscal 2025.

Challenges include the cost of IC tags, estimated at more than ¥10 each, as well as the initial investment required for other necessary equipment, such as bookstore-specific readers and antitheft gates.

It is said that an investment ranging from several hundred thousand to several million yen is required, depending on the characteristics of bookstores. Consequently, the strategy initially targets high-volume publications, such as manga.

To reduce the rate of returns, Dai Nippon Printing Co. is developing a system that enables bookstores to precisely determine the specific titles and quantities they require.

The revitalization plan also includes convening research meetings to reduce returns, with the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry acting as the secretariat and involving bookstores, distributors and publishers.

Broad collaboration

Another key feature of the plan is that it encourages broader collaboration, including with local governments, libraries and literary museums.

To improve the reading environment, the plan proposes forming a council that includes local governments, boards of education, bookstores and other organizations.

The plan includes investigating the current situation of libraries purchasing multiple copies of bestsellers, which has sometimes caused tension with bookstores. Additionally, it will promote the use of individuals with extensive knowledge of literature, such as picture book specialists.

The plan aims to support bookstores by helping them expand their sales channels through website creation and reading events, as well as by providing renovation assistance. Furthermore, it encourages local governments to take a more proactive approach.

“In these challenging situations, I think the plan’s initiatives, such as collaboration with libraries, are valuable,” said Noritaka Shiohara, 54, president of Newco One Co. in Kumamoto City, which operates more than 20 bookstores in Kyushu.

Bookstores have high expectations for this plan. Prof. Yashio Uemura, a publishing studies specialist at Senshu University, remarked: “Through METI’s initiatives and others, there’s growing momentum for bookstores to transform. Moving forward, I hope they will promote various collaborations and work together to create towns that nurture readers.”