Hon no Machi January 2026 Issue (Vol. 9) — Now Available Free at Member Shops from December 10

Thank you, as always, for reading Hon no Machi. Only a little of the year remains, and the town is starting to feel the bustle of the year’s end.

The January 2026 issue (Vol. 9) of the monthly Hon no Machi was published on December 10.

Highlights of This Issue

Yi Sang, Poet of Genius, and Jimbocho

Inuhiko Yomota’s “My Apprenticeship in Old Books” follows the life of the poet Yi Sang, who lodged in Jimbocho 3-chome and died young at the age of 26.

Kazuo Fukumoto and Sorge: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Encounter

Working from two group photographs taken in 1923, Tetsuro Kato unravels historical facts about the origins of the Frankfurt School.

ELLI’s Town Walks Visits Mamekobo

We asked the head of this café, which roasts its own beans and has shops in Kanda, Jimbocho and Suidobashi, about the care that goes into their roasting.

▶ Read “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks” #8: Mamekobo on the web

Contents of This Issue

• My Apprenticeship in Old Books (6): The Ill Fate of a Poet of Genius / Inuhiko Yomota
• From the Study of an International History Detective (3): Kazuo Fukumoto and Sorge — A Once-in-a-Lifetime Encounter / Tetsuro Kato
• Carrying On the Wishes of Yuriko Mochizuki / Takako Okada
• Jimbocho and Me (8): The Shop Clerks’ Drinking Parties (1) / Ryosuke Sakota
• To the Town of Learning… ♪♪ / Masayuki Omori
• New Whimsical Journal of Art (History) (9): Taijiro and Yojiro, Part 2 / Hiroaki Goto
• In Search of Yojiro Shimamura’s Paintings (4) / Naoko Shimamura
• Postwar Scenes Around Jimbocho (2): “Jiyu Gakko” (School of Freedom) / Shigeru Owada
• My Golden Age of Cinema (8, final installment): Silent Films and the Benshi (Live Film Narrators) / Yasutaka Tarumi
• Notebook of Sounds (4): Yukio Mishima and Composers Abroad / Marsha Lin
• ELLI’s Town Walks (8): Mamekobo / Eri Ito
• Jakucho Setouchi and the Wakakusa Project / Shizue Sato
• A Short Biography of Shuhei Fujisawa (9): A Leap Beyond Dark Romanticism — Kurai Umi (The Dark Sea) / Katsuo Sawada
• There’s No Hobby as Wonderful as Jazz! (73) / Kazuyuki Iida
• A Soprano’s Stroll Through Jimbocho (2): On Kanojo no Aria (Her Aria) / Sayu Kogure
• AMMON TOKYO Art Collection Exhibition / Daigo Yokoyama
• Early Photographs of Edo Castle and Its Surroundings (76) / Atsushi Shimizu

Cover: Masako Takezawa, “Mozart, from The Magic Flute: Tamino No. 3”

Publication Details

• Issue: Monthly Hon no Machi, January 2026 issue (Vol. 9)
• Publication date: December 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