What You Are Looking for Is in the Library

  ‘'What are you looking for?''
Libraries. A place of safety, of comfort, of shared silence. The place of our childhood and youth. A place of change. Where your levels of self-doubt and your low self-esteem give way to newly-found dreams. Where we understand that what we deem as ‘mundane' and ‘routine' is our personal, unique success. Where children's books become a beacon of light.
‘'In a world where you don't know what will happen next, I just do what I can right now.''
Five people learn to appreciate the simple pleasure in life, the small victories, the small steps towards a new day. Guided by Sayuri and Nozomi and bonus gifts that symbolise the change that is to come.
Chapter I - Tomoka: A young woman, frustrated and insecure, slowly discovers that the ingredients for a happy life are simple and much more attainable than we think.
Chapter II - Ryo: Ryo works as an accountant but has always wanted to open his very own antique shop. The enterprise is risky and our narrator is afraid of new beginnings. Too nervous, too apprehensive, and the problem with us conscientious people is that we trust nobody. And rightfully so, if you ask me. Everyone will disappoint you in the end. Everyone but God but that's another discussion. Having to deal with co-workers who prefer to paint their nails (or are glued to their phone judging from my personal experience...) than do their job is torment. And Ryo is waiting for this One Day. A visit to the library will help him realise the importance of Today.
I saw myself in Ryo in more ways than I can count...
Chapter III - Natsumi: Starting during the period before Christmas, we turn time back to a sultry August and Natsumi. Frustrated by the way motherhood is viewed in the corporate world, disappointed by her husband's attitude, angered at the inability and unwillingness of our society to accept that a woman may actually desire both a family and a successful, meaningful career. Her deep love for Literature will lead her to a path she never thought possible.
I adored the observations on the Moon as reflected in Religion and Mythology, our first victory in being born, on change, and the importance of reading in our lives. This chapter is pure perfection.
Chapter IV - Hiroya: A 30-year-old man who has never worked in his life and lives with his poor mother contemplates his presence in the ‘artistic' world. And blames everyone but himself...Typical of the idle...
I did not enjoy this chapter at all. Mangas irritate me to no end, the so-called theory of Evolution does not work for me (if you think that the beauty and wisdom of our planet are not God-given, you are heathens and irreversibly stupid...) and people like Hiroya are parasites. End of story.
Chapter V - Masao: Life after retirement can be both exciting and scary. Intimidating it certainly is. Masao tries to find a new meaning, a new purpose, creating his own ‘anthology' of moments, learning to appreciate what each new day brings.
Fairy tales hide the essence of Life's deeper meaning and Michiko Aoyama gives us a plethora of sweet, small pieces of wisdom throughout her heart-warming novel. Characters appearing briefly in a chapter become protagonists in the next. A world interlinked. The urban setting is vividly described and ALSO cats! It's Japanese Literature, of course there would be cats. 
I adored the comment on birth through the eyes of the newborn -simply extraordinary- and the focus on how a book is a living organism that acquires a new life in the hands of each reader. Bookshops and libraries will never die as long as the human race exists. Technology or no technology, readers know how to rescue the very thing that gives meaning to our lives. 
We breathe in dreams, that's the one thing that defines our humanity. We are waiting and waiting for this One Day. But what happens if we lose a very important Today that will never return?
One of the most healing novels you'll ever read.
‘'The Earth goes around.We gaze at the moon, illuminated by the sun.Feet on the ground and facing the sky, we go forward, changing as we do. In order to deliver a larger truth to the person looking down on an open page.''
My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/