Hon no Machi May 2026 Issue (Vol. 13) — Now Available Free at Member Shops from April 10

Thank you, as always, for reading Hon no Machi. The young leaves on the street trees are dazzling, and it’s the perfect season for a stroll.

The May issue (Vol. 13) of the monthly Hon no Machi was published on April 10. Starting with this issue, our cover features work by the printmaker Gen Yamanaka.

Highlights of This Issue

New Series: Gen Yamanaka’s “Engraved Memories”

Printmaker Gen Yamanaka, who creates our covers, looks back on his path from a boy who dreamed of becoming a manga artist to a woodblock printmaker.

Interview with Sanseido Bookstore President Takao Kamei (Final Installment)

He describes the renewed Kanda-Jimbocho Main Store as “the entrance to the town” and talks about the future of town walks that begin at a bookstore.

A Wave of New Series

Ken Kayahara’s “Book Lovers of the Old-Book District” and Tadashi Koyama’s “A Mini Theater with a Café and Bookshelves” begin. ELLI’s Town Walks visits Kissa Poupée, in business for 56 years.

▶ Read “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks” #12: Kissa Poupée on the web
▶ Read this issue’s installment of Ryosuke Sakota’s “Jimbocho and Me” on the web

Contents of This Issue

• My Apprenticeship in Old Books (9): Memories of Foreign-Book Shops / Inuhiko Yomota
• Engraved Memories (1): Time Within a Picture / Gen Yamanaka
• From the Study of an International History Detective (7): The Rise and Fall of Postwar Current-Affairs Magazines / Tetsuro Kato
• Interview with Sanseido Bookstore President Takao Kamei (3) / Rin Mizuki
• Jimbocho and Me (12): The Oden Shop “A-One” (2) / Ryosuke Sakota
• Book Lovers of the Old-Book District (1): Kugao Fukuda / Ken Kayahara
• A Marriage of Terrine and Bookmarks / Kanako Nagano
• A Mini Theater with a Café and Bookshelves (1) / Tadashi Koyama
• Curtain Calls in Full Bloom (4) / Hiroshi Takahagi
• Notebook of Sounds, File 8: A Stunning Opera Double Bill / Marsha Lin
• Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks (12): Kissa Poupée / Eri Ito
• Jimbocho and Works of Literature / Kazuko Kakinuma
• In Search of Yojiro Shimamura’s Paintings (8) / Naoko Shimamura
• New Whimsical Journal of Art (History) (13) / Hiroaki Goto
• Postwar Scenes Around Jimbocho (6): Writers’ Antinuclear Statement and the Japan Education Center (Part 1) / Shigeru Owada
• There’s No Hobby as Wonderful as Jazz! (77) / Kazuyuki Iida
• The Friendships of Luke, the Gentle and Graceful Dog / Miho Komai
• Early Photographs of Edo Castle and Its Surroundings (80) / Atsushi Shimizu

Cover: Gen Yamanaka, “Nine Forms”

Publication Details

• Issue: Monthly Hon no Machi, May 2026 issue (Vol. 13)
• Publication date: April 10, 2026
• 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