The number of bookstores is declining nationwide in Japan (and elsewhere). Do you think it will be a sad day if physical books are no longer available to buy?

Yes, without a shadow of a doubt!

Yes, it will be a sad day. It's already sad for me right now that instead of printed menus, there's just a QR code which has to be scanned to be read. We're not droids that can read that without a phone. I love books and I grew up reading them, that is where I learned English aside from school. I owe a lot to printed media and it's going to be a bad day when all the books are gone. If they're concerned about paper waste, why not just print books from recycled paper entirely?

All I know is this, I'd rather be reading a physical copy of a book rather than some PDF of it from the screen of my computer or phone.

Something of a loaded question, but yes, of course. I love books and I would sorely miss them. Having said that, in recent times, if I am buying English books the cost is just too high to justify many of them being bought as a physical version. At the rate that I consume books, Kindle is realistically the only way to do it. The added benefit being that I can carry an enormous amount along with me.

100% it would be sad. Despite what the marketing says, these devices make my eye strain. Physical is much more relaxing because not only is the paper not emitting light, but it smells good, feels good to touch, and I feel more engaged when reading.

So you will be sad for a day then get over it ? I assume it will take more than a day of grieving if you are really into books. Might be a week or a month or a year or you might never get over it.

I've read novels on a Kindle, but there is no way Instagram is as good as a coffee table photo book.

We have chilled lighting in our home, mostly lamps, but my failing eyesight means I have to really crank up the lighting to read printed text. Its what happens as you get old. It can be easier for me to read e-ink, especially because I can make the text bigger. This is limited to e ink however, and not a smartphone or tablet screen. I read enough computer screens for my work.

Yes, it would be very sad if physical books no longer become available to buy, but I don't think that will happen in our lifetime. Public and school libraries still exist, so there will always be a market, and so do used book stores.

While I do read ebooks on occasion, there is something magical about "real" books. They make great gifts - many on my bookshelf have important messages from the giver. Sometimes I love to pull a random one off the shelf and read where I have underlined or folded over a page and rediscover why I liked the book in the first place. Can't really do this with ebooks. Nothing beats reading a book with a child sitting in your lap, holding it with you. Also, many children's books with lift-the-flap and pop-ups can't be replicated in digital format. Browsing book store and library shelves, pulling and opening at random, is so much more fulfilling than clicking through an Amazon page. Ebooks are fine if you know what you want, but real books are great for discovering something new.

Walking into real book stores and 2nd hand stores without a predetermined title or author in mind is a relaxing experience.

to find a first edition hard cover in good condition, a trill to me.

to just look at already read books, which i deemed good to keep brings back the stories, lines and memories of story and author. I reread books also if the writer is a language acrobat, to enjoy the way words are used to bring up emotions and admiration for the author.

for me, i will always find real books during thecremainder of my life time. If they disappear itcwill bdcaxshame on ghe generations responsible for such a crime.

Most definitely. There's a physicality to reading actual books that you can't replicate with e-books. Part of the experience is turning the pages and hearing it susurrate. The smell of books, particularly old books, adds to the reading experience as well.

Walking into real book stores and 2nd hand stores without a predetermined title or author in mind is a relaxing experience.

Agreed. It's like a scavenger hunt and when you inevitably stumble upon a book you didn't know existed, it's happy days. There's a secondhand bookstore in Tokyo, Infinity Books Japan, that specializes in English books for decent prices. My luggage was all the more heavier when I went home after finding this gem of a place.

Yes, it would be sad. But I have something else to say about physical books. In my work I often have to refer to works that are no longer printed and are quite obscure; works which were mainly printed for university libraries and specialists. I do not have access to the libraries that carry these works and they are not usually found on Amazon, etc. and are quite expensive when available. Such works I would like to see made available in digital form at a reasonable price. A print on demand service for such works would be great too for frequently referenced works.

They may be on Sci-hi or LibGen? I know it's not exactly the "proper" way to access them, but...

Yes, it would be sad. But I have something else to say about physical books. In my work I often have to refer to works that are no longer printed and are quite obscure; works which were mainly printed for university libraries and specialists. I do not have access to the libraries that carry these works and they are not usually found on Amazon, etc. and are quite expensive when available. Such works I would like to see made available in digital form at a reasonable price. A print on demand service for such works would be great too for frequently referenced works.

Sci-hub, not Sci-hi (autocorrect!)

If it ever happens, it would suck but I don't think it'll ever happen.

There may be a lot less bookstores in the future, but I think some will remain since

some people will always want to read paper versions of books.

Had my eyesight not gone bad, I would still be reading paper books till I die. I need to be able to massively increase the font now.

Not everyone likes reading off Kindle or other electronic devices.

Although some bookshops are closing, books "on paper" are not yet dead about here... The Madrid Book Fair 2025, a two week open air event with over four hundred exhibitors (bookshops, editorials, distributors) has just closed. The results are record profits (over 7.5 million euros), books sold (450.00) and public (600.000). https://eldistrito.es/feria-del-libro-madrid-cierra-con-mas-75-millones-de-euros-recaudados/

So much is going digital, not just books, but there will always be some need for books, just less and less as people prefer the convenience of digital, especially audio features, search, etc.

Sometimes just reading a regular book is a good healthy mental break from devices, that's what will keep books relevant, people's desire to be healthy!

That would not be only a sad day, in a certain sense that would be the last day.

I buy both ebooks and physical books. And there are large numbers of people who collect physical books too.

I doubt that physical books will ever die out, but it won't be a for the most popular airport fiction, but for more serious readers.

And as we have seen with vinyl, old formats don't die out.

I have a large collection of art books, which are better to read than digital versions.