Welcome to The Friday Bookshop, a cozy little bookstore tucked inside a rustic train station north of Tokyo. Rumor has it, you’ll find the perfect book there—one that you need at that particular moment, even if you don’t know it yourself....

When college student Fumiya visits The Friday Bookshop as a last-ditch effort to find a book for his ill father, he is disappointed in its ordinary appearance despite whispers of its peculiar charm. But he soon discovers that it not only includes a café where the food menu changes daily on the chef’s whim but also a vast underground vault lined with bookshelves, lovingly converted from an old abandoned subway platform. The bookshop, run by a quirky trio who have been close friends since high school, quickly becomes Fumiya’s favorite place—so much so that he begins to work there part-time.

Fumiya, who was never really a reader, learns to embrace the joy of reading, and that books can be a means to connect with other people and navigate the twists and turns of life.

Through colorful interactions with the zany shop owners and their visitors, as well as mouthwatering dishes inspired by the books they recommend, it’s impossible not to fall in love with the seemingly ordinary yet enchanting little bookstore in the subway station in Kanto.

About the Author

Born in 1973 in Hyogo Prefecture, Sawako Natori is a novelist and a freelance scenarist for games and audio dramas. She won the Train Station Booksellers Award for The Lost and Found Corner at Penguin Railway in 2015. Her other novels include Noah's Ark in the Library, Books Awaiting at the Literary Inn, and The Galaxy Library.