The economics of this fascinate me. There is absolutely no way selling paper copies of a single book (even/especially if it changes daily: what happens to unsold stock?) can cover the costs of ground floor retail store rental in the Ginza plus apparently engaging boutique branding agencies to do in depth explorations of a logo complete with a custom typeface.
For reference, a standard bunko paperback in Japan costs on the order of ¥600 (US$4), maybe 2-3x that if you splash out on the hardcover.
The economics of bookstores in Japan favours the shop owner much more than other places. Books are sold on consignment, you order books and pay the wholesaler once sold. Book doesn't sell, not your problem, return it to wholesaler. Publishers are also allowed to fix pricing on a new book. So you could make money but not a lot as the store owner pays freight.
2006 presentation from member of Japanese Book Publishers Association (English language) <a href="https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/bookmarket.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/bookmarket.pdf or more recent from 2022 <a href="https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/presentaionatTIBE2022.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/presentaionatTIBE2022.pdf, Both linked from <a href="https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/index.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/index.html
decimalenough · · focus · HN ↗
For reference, a standard bunko paperback in Japan costs on the order of ¥600 (US$4), maybe 2-3x that if you splash out on the hardcover.
softgrow · · focus · HN ↗
2006 presentation from member of Japanese Book Publishers Association (English language) <a href="https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/bookmarket.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/bookmarket.pdf or more recent from 2022 <a href="https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/presentaionatTIBE2022.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/presentaionatTIBE2022.pdf, Both linked from <a href="https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/index.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/index.html