The New Hon no Machi Debuts: May 2025 Issue (Vol. 1) — Now Available Free at Member Shops from April 10

Thank you, as always, for reading Hon no Machi. Word of the cherry blossoms has arrived, and spring light is falling on the streets of Jimbocho.

Hon no Machi, the town magazine of Kanda, Ochanomizu and Jimbocho, has made a fresh start as the “New Hon no Machi.” The May issue (No. 1), the first issue of the relaunch, was published on April 10.

Highlights of This Issue

The Launch Issue Opens with the Old-Book District Today

Hiroshi Tarumi, editor-in-chief of Nihon Kosho Tsushin (Antiquarian Book News), begins a new series, “The Changing Jimbocho Old-Book District.” Starting from the scene at the book sales held at the Tokyo Kosho Kaikan (Tokyo Antiquarian Booksellers’ Hall), he looks at how the relationship between secondhand booksellers and their customers has changed.

Series on Music, Film and Art Launch Together

Topics that feel right at home in this town line up, including Li Jing’s “On an Opera Tour to Lake Biwa,” Yasutaka Tarumi’s “My Golden Age of Cinema” and Hiroaki Goto’s “New Whimsical Journal of Art (History).”

Contents of This Issue

• The Changing Jimbocho Old-Book District (1) / Hiroshi Tarumi
• A Short Biography of Shuhei Fujisawa (1) / Katsuo Sawada
• My Golden Age of Cinema (1) / Yasutaka Tarumi
• The Lost Shops of Jimbocho / Hiyori Kusaka
• Walking Through Nostalgic Kanda: An Essay / Tetsuya Sudo
• New Whimsical Journal of Art (History) (1) / Hiroaki Goto
• Music Through the Seasons: On an Opera Tour to Lake Biwa / Li Jing
• War Paintings and the “Problem” of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo / Atsushi Shimizu
• Early Photographs of Edo Castle and Its Surroundings (68) / Atsushi Shimizu

Cover: Masako Takezawa, “Papapa”
This issue also includes a notice for the Shakespeare Gallery exhibition “Shohachi Kimura: The Streets and Performing Arts of Showa-Era Tokyo” (April 25–May 16, 2025).

Publication Details

• Issue: Monthly Hon no Machi, May 2025 issue (Vol. 1)
• Publication date: April 10, 2025
• Cover price: ¥150 (tax incl.) — distributed free at member shops
• Publisher: Hon no Machi Editorial Office
• Where to find it: Member shops and other locations in Kanda, Jimbocho and Ochanomizu (list of member shops and pickup points)

The PDF of this issue is available on note.

Earlier issues can be read on our Back Issues page. *Exhibitions, events, shop information, advertisements and other details are as of the original publication date.

日本語で読む — Read this article in Japanese