Hon no Machi August 2025 Issue (Vol. 4) — Now Available Free at Member Shops from July 10

Thank you, as always, for reading Hon no Machi. Summer is in full swing, and it’s the season when we long for a cold drink.

The August issue (No. 4) of the monthly Hon no Machi was published on July 10.

Highlights of This Issue

Interview with Hajime Takayama: “Collecting Materials by Earning Writers’ Trust”

The start of a serial interview in which Rin Mizuki talks with Hajime Takayama, who as an antiquarian bookseller has long helped writers gather their research materials.

Inuhiko Yomota: “The Day I First Saw Jimbocho”

Comparative literature scholar and film historian Inuhiko Yomota recalls the day he first visited Jimbocho.

Thinking About the Earthen Bridges of Edo Castle (Part 1)

Kazuo Nonaka, a lecturer at Chiba Keizai University, begins his study of the earthen bridges (dobashi) of Edo Castle.

▶ Read “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks” #3: Hasebe on the web

Contents of This Issue

• Interview with Hajime Takayama: “Collecting Materials by Earning Writers’ Trust” / Rin Mizuki
• The Day I First Saw Jimbocho / Inuhiko Yomota
• Jimbocho and Me (3): Things That Change / Ryosuke Sakota
• Remembering Shaoxing at Xianheng Tavern / Shunji Fukui
• The Changing Jimbocho Old-Book District (4): On Multivolume Literature Collections and More / Hiroshi Tarumi
• Thinking About the Earthen Bridges of Edo Castle (Part 1) / Kazuo Nonaka
• My Golden Age of Cinema (4) / Yasutaka Tarumi
• New Whimsical Journal of Art (History) (4) / Hiroaki Goto
• Portrait of a Shop Owner: Yoko Shimomura of Otofuku / Mei Matsumoto
• Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks (3): Hasebe / Eri Ito
• There’s No Hobby as Wonderful as Jazz! (68) / Kazuyuki Iida
• Walking Through Nostalgic Kanda: An Essay (3) — In Search of Great Ankake Yakisoba (Fried Noodles in a Thick Savory Sauce) / Tetsuya Sudo
• A Short Biography of Shuhei Fujisawa (4): Embraced by the Winds of Shonai / Katsuo Sawada
• From Real Estate to Clay Sculpture: My Personal History Leading to the Gallery AMMON TOKYO / Daigo Yokoyama
• Early Photographs of Edo Castle and Its Surroundings (71) / Atsushi Shimizu

Cover: Masako Takezawa, “Hanairo Tsumi” (Gathering Flower Colors)
This issue also includes a notice for the Shakespeare Gallery exhibition “Yoshihiko Kumaoka and Shin Kurihara (Ibaraki) vs. Riichiro Kawashima and Toshiyuki Shimizu (Tochigi)” (July 2–26, 2025).

Publication Details

• Issue: Monthly Hon no Machi, August 2025 issue (Vol. 4)
• Publication date: July 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