Author Nozomu Hayashi's New Book 'Enjoying Books' Argues for Paper Books Amidst Declining Sales and Digital Textbook Adoption.

Nozomu Hayashi's book, 'Enjoying Books: The Reason to Read Paper Books Now,' was published by Asahi Shimbun Publications on April 13, 2026. The paper publication market in Japan has seen a significant decline, with sales dropping from approximately 2.6 trillion yen in 1996 to 964.7 billion yen in 2025. On April 7, 2026, the Japanese government's cabinet approved a bill to revise laws, officially positioning digital textbooks as equivalent to paper textbooks and making them eligible for free distribution in elementary and junior high schools. Hayashi argues that electronic books are a source of frustration, citing eye strain from small smartphone screens and hand fatigue from heavy tablets. He believes the physical form of books, perfected over a thousand years, cannot be replaced by digital formats developed over mere decades. He states that for those who have experienced reading, digital books often lead to thoughts like, 'If only this were paper, it wouldn't be so troublesome.' Hayashi personally reads only paper books and does not use e-books. He also holds strong opinions on reading, such as 'buy books to read them,' 'knowledge from borrowed library books is borrowed knowledge,' 'book clubs are a waste of time,' and 'the quantity of reading does not correlate with personality.' Hayashi criticizes digital textbooks as a 'dumbing down policy.' He emphasizes the importance of physical textbooks as a record of one's life history and identity, having preserved all his elementary school textbooks. He views digital textbooks as a prime example of policies that make people ignorant. He laments the decreasing emphasis on classical literature (Chinese classics and classical Japanese) in school curricula, noting that many schools now teach 'National Language Comprehensive' which combines modern and classical Japanese, leading to a diminished study of classics. Hayashi highlights Japan's long and rich literary history, spanning over 1300 years since the Kojiki (712 AD) and 1231 years since the Manyoshu (759 AD). He points out that Japan is unique in continuously producing and transmitting classical literary works without dynastic collapse or change. While digital textbooks offer convenience, he suggests they might diminish the 'flavor' of school life. He fears that future generations raised on digital textbooks might lose interest in Japanese classical literature, drawing a parallel to China's simplification of characters, which led to a cultural disconnect where modern Chinese people cannot read ancient texts.