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Dialogue "Tarzan Yamamoto ×Toudoukan Director" 12.A trip to purchase used books
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12. The Journey of Purchasing Used Books
Director: That's why I quit my job, rented a car in the morning, and went around to various used bookstores with Taiyo.
I was just passing the head office building of Teikoku Databank on Aoyama 1-chome on Route 246, so I looked up at the building and left, thinking that everyone was working now.
Tarzan Yamamoto: No, that's why people go to work in the morning and leave at night. That's the big trend, isn't there?
of the collective. You don't have to live without it. It's a matter of which one to take. Humans. It would be easier if we took the greatest common denominator, but this one is lonely.
It's isolated. But that isolation is not good. If you love yourself, you can do it. If only I truly loved myself. The director loves himself.
Director: Hahaha (wry smile) You were a narcissist.
Tarzan Yamamoto: At the end of the day, I love myself. I don't love the world, the world, or common sense.
Director: Certainly, when you have to make a big decision, you have to ask why you came to Tokyo.
Tarzan Yamamoto: It's for me! When you're in a company, the company says that the organization should be like this, that it's easier for you to do it this way.
There's a lot of restraint on employees.
No, it's not. If you think about it as an individual, the answer is no. If you do something like that, you're no longer going to be like this (batten your fingers) with your boss.
But in each moment, the director took on himself as an individual. You don't know why that's the case.
Er, Pro Wrestling Cafe!? What the hell is that? It's like I'm crazy.
Director: I also told my seniors at the company, "If you are quiet here and do it properly, you will earn 8 million in 10 years, and if you work hard, you will earn 10 million or an annual income."
It's a good company, isn't it? I was often told. Eh, wouldn't it be a waste to use up your one-time life for that kind of money (laughs)?
At the time, I couldn't say anything so cheeky to my seniors, but I had an irreverent feeling in my heart.
Tarzan Yamamoto: That's why the director is 10 million yen. In other words, take your own sensibilities and sensations as an individual rather than what is considered socially good.
No matter what. That's why it's Bushido! That's what Bushido is all about. The director is a bushido who takes himself as an individual.
Director: Was this Bushido? (laughs)
Certainly, when I look back like this and give the memories that led to the launch of Toudoukan, I end up talking about how selfish I was, and I'm surprised myself (wry smile) I'm talking about it, and I wonder if the people who read this later will be okay with my image (wry smile)
Tarzan Yamamoto: It's about living by your values as an individual. That's what samurai are all about. They don't care about outside values at all.
Normally, you can't quit such a company and take a risk and start what you want to do. You don't have to go out of your way to cut your stomach, if you're in the majority.
Director: So, I quit my job and first had to collect used books, back issues of specialized magazines, and martial arts comics.
You have to get all the back issues of the weekly pro and all the volumes of fighting comics for browsing, and if you have a rare book or video that sells cheaply, you can buy it for sale.
In order to do that, you need to go around the used bookstores and collect them all at once.
Bookstores in the countryside should have more bargains like this and sell them at a lower price.
However, at that time, the Internet was not yet widely used, and rental cars did not have car navigation systems.
First, I went to the nearby municipal library and enlarged and printed the map with the library's photocopier.
So, there was also a town page, so I looked at the page of the used bookstore, looked up the address there, and marked each one on the map.
And if I go this way, I will be able to visit a lot of used bookstores efficiently, so I do my homework.
After that, major national chain stores such as Bookoff and Book Market had started to have websites, and that information was also marked on the map.
I thought it would be a good idea to go this route.
So, with that map, Taiyo and I drove around in a rental car and collected books all the time.
▲ Seeking used books, everywhere
Visiting used bookstores was physically demanding, but it was like going on a treasure hunt, and it was a very fun memory. It's also a hobby as it is.
I went to the Tokai area of Kanagawa and Shizuoka, the Chiba area, Saitama / Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, and I started with the Kanto region. Usually, I buy used books in my car in 1 night and 2 days.
When the Kanto region was over, I went back to Osaka and went around the second-hand bookstores in the Kansai region, which at that time was a friend from the Rings Senriyama era. On my way back to Tokyo, I used my youth 18 kip to stop at a second-hand bookstore along the Tokaido Road.
Taidai's parents' home is in Tokushima, so I visited used bookstores in Shikoku.
I was excited and had a lot of fun every time I went on a treasure hunt. Originally, going to used bookstores was my hobby, so I was filled with a sense of happiness that I was able to do what I liked as a job.
It's nostalgic.
▲ 10 yen uniform shelf of Bokeh Shobo in Osaka!
Tarzan Yamamoto: yes. That's fun. You can do whatever you want. It's an extension of youth.
Director: I go to a lot of places and bring a lot of books home.
At the time, I was living in an apartment with a 2LDK.
Cardboard boxes filled with books he bought are piled up from the corner of the room.
It was like Tetris from corner to corner of the room, up to the ceiling, and the entire space of the room was filled with cardboard.
This tatami mat is quite incoherent in it, but I wonder if the floor is okay. I thought it would be a big deal if I pulled out, but one room was completely full, and the next room was eroding a lot. If you don't decide on a property quickly, it will be a big deal.
Around the time I was thinking about this, I found the Nagaya Building, which was my first store.
So, I finally called a moving company and had them take it to the store at once.
So, all the books in cardboard have a sticker of the price tag when you bought it.
When you start a store, if the price is posted on the sticker of another store, if the store is 00 yen, this is not good.
Tarzan Yamamoto: No.
Director: But I thought I could peel it off right away, but the book-off sticker was cut and sticky, so I couldn't easily peel it off cleanly.
It takes more time and effort than I expected.
I didn't realize that until March (laughs).
I've decided to open 3.23 and I'm printing a flyer, but I'm sorry, I can't make it in time (laughs).
After that, we removed the sticker and erased the price, and we had various friends come and help us with lunch boxes every day, and we all peeled off the sticker from morning to night. There are so many other things to do, but it takes up a lot of time (laughs).
We had to assemble all the bookshelves we bought by mail order, and since the beginning of March, we have already brought a sleeping bag to the store and stayed overnight, and we have been working on it without going home、、、
While peeling off the sticker, arrange the books and videos on the shelves,
So I managed to slip in and open it on March 23rd
Tarzan Yamamoto: Well, that's why people are most passionate when they start a business. It's the most beautiful. And it's the most fun.
Director: I'm going to use all the energy I have (laughs).
Tarzan Yamamoto: He has a lot of energy. It's a struggle against the unknown. Because I don't know.
I don't know, but I believe in it, and it's the most beautiful. That's youth.
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