Books and Reading in Japan

[Text and images by student Kaylie Montgomery]

I have noticed that in Japan, people love to read. Reading is common on subways, in libraries and cafes, and the hotel even has a small library selection of travel books and other books filled with interesting facts and information. 

In Japan, there are unique genres of books, and lots of people read digitally. However, I have noticed that even though people read on their phones, there are still many in Japan who enjoy reading paper novels. I’ve even noticed businessmen, other adults, and teenagers dressed in school uniforms reading on their phones and reading print novels and other reading material in public. 

Japanese writing is read differently than English writing. The writing is vertical, from right to left, top to bottom, and you read the book from the opposite direction of an English book. I have noticed that the way people format books in Japan is not identical to the way that people format books in the United States. There are also plenty of novels and stories that are unique to the Japanese language, although many (especially the most famous, and books that inspired anime) are available to read with English translations. As someone who loves reading, I found looking through Japanese books to be a very exciting experience.