I used to love going into book stores back home and perusing the shelves for something of interest, but the experience just isn't the same in Japan. I'm not a fluent reader of Japanese, and even if I were better at it, I wouldn't be reading Japanese books for pleasure as I don't need an added dose of linguistic challenge with my reading time. Reading is something that I do when I have precious free time, and I don't want it to feel like language study. I want it to effortlessly inform or entertain me.
Book stores in Japan are probably one of the biggest reminders that this isn't a culture that is oriented toward the likes of me, and I won't miss going into them.
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