CURRENT TOPICS
With the coming changeable era in global information and information businesses, Yushodo will have to dive headfirst into this approaching huge wave since we will soon be in the 21st century. In this issue of Net Pinus, I am presenting several topics and news about our activities for these last six months of the 20th century.
Both our executive members and I have participated in several events and meetings in Japan and overseas and as a result have been able to gather a lot of new information at exhibitions, meeting and seminars. I believe that all of these events should impact Yushodo's policies in the new century.
In mid-October, our president Mr. Kawashima along with two top managers visited the Frankfurt Book Fair and met with various publishers for whom we are the exclusive agent in Japan. At the Fair, they could collect lots of current news and plans and in return they were able to give the publishers the current situation in the Japanese market. For 2001 we agreed that we would participate in some joint projects together as well as continue promotion of their titles in our market.
At Edinburgh an antiquarian book fair was organized to coincide with the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers annual meeting. Our antiquarian books manager Isamu Nitta attended as the general secretary of the Japanese Association. Since this event was scheduled so close to the world famous London Antiquarian Book Fair in June, it was not so successful and there were fewer participants at both events. While one of the main points of discussion was Internet business, I do believe it is quite necessary to continue to meet with each other face to face and not just via the Internet.
Beijing Book Fair
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As far as myself, in August I traveled to Beijing to attend the Asia Pacific Publishers Association Annual meeting as a representative of the Japan Book Publishers Association. At this meeting, we elected Mr. Nan of Korea as the new leader of APPA and we held discussions with the Chinese Association on the issues of copyright and publishing freedom etc. Concurrently held was a book fair with over 300,000 people in attendance. I was really impressed with how China has changed from the time I was there ten years ago. As an Asian businessman, I believe we have to consider more about the Asian market and our dignity as publishers and as responsible owners of our own cultural heritages.
In September Mr. Bruce Ferrini of Ferrini Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts invited me to Akron, Ohio. He is well known as a collector of early manuscripts and historical writing materials and his partner in Paris is also quite well known as a dealer in these lines. As part of their world exhibition, Yushodo agreed to organize the Tokyo exhibition and based on this agreement, we had an Early Illuminated Manuscripts Exhibition at Yushodo's main office in June. Through the support of several professors, the media and other means, more than 300 professionals visited us on this particular occasion. Professor Sandra Hindman gave a lecture at a special seminar during the course of the exhibition and this was well received by all. After the Yushodo exhibit, we held a second event exhibiting the Book of Hours in manuscript form at the Tokyo Library Fair November 16-18. The Library Fair was a much larger venue and so many people had the opportunity to see such valuable manuscripts. A third event, entitled Heritage of Writing, is planned for autumn 2001 in cooperation with the newly opened Toppan Printing Museum.
AIB at Berlin Staat Bibiothek sept. |
In September my travels brought me to Berlin for the annual Association of Bibliophiles Colloquium. Many Europeans were expected to visit there since the merging of East and West Germany and during the course of the week we visited buildings of Staat Bibliothek both in east and west Berlin. Dr. Jammers and their staff at Staat Bibliothek welcomed the group totaling about 150 people from twelve different nations. We were all quite surprised at seeing several and very rare important books which have survived to the present day in quite good condition. We noted that while most of the world's famous libraries have copies of standard rare items, we could not find some of those items in the Staat Bibliothek. However I think that Berlin will become a very important European Center of publishing and books in ten years time.
As a major shareholder in the company, Yushodo supports the activities of Japan Culture Corp. (JCC) and their annual event, the Tokyo Library Fair and Forum. This year's fair had close to 18,000 attendees and increase of approximately 12% over last year. The fair brings together both overseas and Japanese publishers, companies in the library field and suppliers to libraries. Not only were there exhibits but also demonstrations, such as the making of Japanese washi paper, during the course of the three days. JCC has already announced the Third Fair for next year, November 15, 16 & 17 and so if you are interested in exhibiting or if you have any inquiries about the Fair, please get in touch with us.
In early November, Kyoto University held a symposium entitled "Digital Libraries: Research & Practice." In attendance were many British Library personnel and this meeting gave us a lot of impact for Yushodo's 21st century plan. As a long and experienced rare book handler, Yushodo has offered to create a digital format of several rare book libraries' treasured scrolls and large size maps etc. While this new format will be for preservation purposes, it will also enable the libraries to show these items either in part or in toto. We expect that this project, in cooperation with several partners, will become one of our main new businesses from 2001.
Of course importation of source materials, often as the exclusive agent in Japan for well-known publishers, continues to be our main source of business. We still continue to promote to our library clients and sometimes form joint ventures with our overseas partners. However I can say that because of the Internet IT age, it is gradually becoming more and more difficult to make a normal and reasonable commission between the suppliers and the consumers. However when compared to others, Yushodo has developed its own plans to publish titles either in paper or microform or digital format. In 2001 we will announce quite a few and large publishing projects, some of which will be co-publishing projects with overseas publishers.
Finally through the efforts of our sales team, and especially the younger staff, our reputation remains strong with our clients in our market and with the cooperation of our overseas partners, we continue to be a unique bookseller in Japan. |
