[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-293":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Literary Master of Tokyo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2355142,4607,"Chapter 293: The Cold Winter for Bookstore Practitioners","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-293",293,"\u003Cp>For the publishing industry in Japan, the economic crisis was a turning point; ever since, the entire industry has been on a continuous downward slope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially for publishers without bestsellers, they faced the prospect of restructuring or bankruptcy one after another. Many of those that managed to survive were forced into self-publishing businesses, earning money by gilding the reputations of professors and business owners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the publishing industry in such a state, the bookstores inextricably linked to it naturally could not escape the same fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Throughout the 1990s, nearly 10,000 bookstores closed down or changed their line of business; looking at the timeline, an average of about 1,000 bookstores went out of business or closed each year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, a large number of bookstore employees were forced to face the prospect of re-employment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, while these bookstores were closing, cheaper second-hand bookstores were springing up one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition to the second-hand bookstore chain BOOKOFF, thousands of other types of second-hand bookstores opened across various regions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in 1993, where Akiwara Yuto currently finds himself, the second-hand bookstore trend was still in its nascent stage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, what he asked Xidao Zongtai to do was to create a comparative data curve chart of bookstore closures versus new second-hand bookstore openings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One week later, in the president's office on the third floor of Tsutaya Bookstore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xidao Zongtai said with a look of surprise, \"Akiwara-sensei, this is incredible.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon seeing the results, he felt extremely shocked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first half of this year, nearly 500 bookstores closed across Japan, but 100 second-hand bookstores opened in various places, and there is a trend of continuous expansion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet before this, he had not noticed this point at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto had already known the result, so he did not feel surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply asked, \"How many second-hand bookstores are there in total according to the statistics now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"About 300-plus.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto calculated in his mind and discovered that compared to the scale in his past life, there was still a very large space in the market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"President Xidao, do you have any other opinions regarding the proposal for second-hand bookstores?\" Akiwara Yuto asked with a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xidao Zongtai waved his hand, indicating he had no objections.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The momentum of second-hand bookstores was hot; anyone could see that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, if established through a franchise plus direct-operation model, it would not place too much of a burden on capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he still had some doubts in his heart regarding whether a perfect sales channel could be built.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before seeing the results, he was unwilling to draw a conclusion easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that the other party no longer opposed it, Akiwara Yuto then said, \"Since it is feasible, then prepare a relevant plan for me later.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Understood,\" Xidao Zongtai indicated he knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He planned to send people to various places this week to take a look, starting by checking the 12 cities with populations over one million.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he was not sure if it could be done, since he had decided to do it, he naturally had to do it to the best of his ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He handed over another document.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, this is the sales statistics for last week's trial reading event for 'A Personal Matter'.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto took it and looked through it carefully, discovering that on this statistical table, 27,000 copies of 'A Personal Matter' had been sold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although it did not reach 30,000 copies, it still reached a very high level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But why did it sell so many?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After he expressed his confusion, Xidao Zongtai said seriously, \"Akiwara-sensei, the managers of various bookstores in Tokyo said that your work has the lowest return rate, so they are willing to stock a bit more.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, and his expression softened: \"They seem to have learned about the two distributors, and so many managers have told me they are willing to take the initiative to help you recommend the book to other bookstore managers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this answer, Akiwara Yuto did not know what to say for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was not surprised that these bookstore managers would know about this matter; after all, there were many employees at the distributors, so there was much gossip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was just that the actions of these bookstore managers made him feel surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the trial reading event for 'Snow Country', quite a few people expressed that they did not accept the work, yet now, upon learning that the distributors had reduced their orders, they had instead taken the initiative to purchase 'A Personal Matter'.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One must know that with the current downturn in bookstores, these bookstores themselves were on the edge of a cliff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made him feel a little moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was silent for a while, then squeezed out a smile and said, \"Please thank those bookstore managers for me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Understood,\" Xidao Zongtai also smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After chatting for a few sentences, Akiwara Yuto left the office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While walking, he pondered in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could he help these bookstore owners without harming his own interests?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought for a while, and finally decided to tell Xidao Zongtai next time to give these owners who supported him more discounts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaving the publishing house, he took a private car back home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as he arrived home, he received a call from Assistant Inspector Soma of the Metropolitan Police Department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other party said excitedly, \"Akiwara-sensei, the Kanagawa serial murder case has made huge progress!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huge progress?\" Akiwara Yuto asked in surprise, \"Have you caught the murderer?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Assistant Inspector Soma hesitated for a moment and said, \"Sorry, we only identified who the murderer is; the other party is still at large.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Akiwara Yuto almost couldn't help but curse the other party as an idiot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had already identified the criminal, yet they still let the other party run! No wonder some people in his past life cursed the Tokyo Metropolitan Police as trash!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought for a moment and asked again, \"How long do you estimate it will take to catch the murderer?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Assistant Inspector Soma replied, \"The Metropolitan Police Department has already dispatched over 2,000 police officers in coordination with Kanagawa; it is expected that it won't take long to make an arrest!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Akiwara Yuto was a bit skeptical of this answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was a case in his past life in 2007 where a murderer named Tatsuya Ichihashi raped and killed his foreign English teacher and then began his flight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This incident shocked all of Tokyo; the police claimed to have deployed 100,000 officers, but it ended up taking a full two years to bring the other party to justice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he worried, would they let the other party escape for that long this time too!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, thank you so much this time!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Assistant Inspector Soma said gratefully, \"The reason we were able to discover the criminal this time is because you adjusted the psychological profile; the murderer is exactly a middle-aged man with a wife and a career.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before this, none of us thought he would be the murderer in this case.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding his gratitude, Akiwara Yuto accepted it calmly and then asked, \"You didn't reveal that it was me who modified the psychological profile, did you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course, our confidentiality measures are very good.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this answer, Akiwara Yuto felt relieved in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the other party knew about this and decided to assassinate him in a moment of desperation, that would be troublesome!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, for him, this was indeed good news!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the murderer could be identified, then the movie 'Memories of Murder' would not need to worry about social impact and could be released as soon as possible!\u003C\u002Fp>",1277,"2026-06-21T03:58:02.196Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","ccd38979ee5620baddccaa044b14bba3b81ca183a8a5a7d2e81989bf6bbae6cb","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-294","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-292",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]