Comment on This bookstore wraps all books in plastic.
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 3 weeks agoIt was Tsutaya in Cambodia.
Hilariously before you named the store I was thinking back of my experience in exactly a Tsutaya in Tokyo.
Found some cool origami books that I had to take a chance on buying them, since I couldn’t look through them as they were also wrapped in plastic.
Extra fun tidbit, I bought them tax-free, which is super straightforward in Japan, and then they told me I should not remove the plastic wrap and “use” the books, since that would invalidate their tax-free status and I’d have to repay tax…
Fully Booked is popular, but that’s probably because it’s the only actual bookstore franchise in the Philippines. Most other book stores are family owned stores that sell used books. National Bookstore is a joke, and mostly sells stationary.
National could barely able to sell publications as by 2010s nearly everyone went to spend more time online – ebooks, social media, etc. – and even the browsers have disappeared as magazines started to end publication, so leaving the stationery business the only thing keeping it afloat.
Strangely, asides from Fully Booked and that small Japanese bookstore in an uppity part of Manila, the Big Bad Wolf book festival draws a large crowd of bookworms.
Burghler@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Japan does love to wrap literally everything purchasable in stores in plastic. Abroad wouldn’t be immune to this since shared supply chains.
StillAlive@piefed.world 3 weeks ago
I only saw hentai books wrapped in plastic in Japan but I didn’t go to many bookstores while there.
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
The whole idea plastic waste is bad doesn’t seem to have made it over to Asia.
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 week ago
Japan has made baby steps, while they still wrap individual bananas, many stores charge for a plastic bag, discouraging use.
The younger folk here in Cambodia seem to care about the environment, old folks just throw trash wherever.
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 week ago
Ah, so it’s started now. Good to know!
k0e3@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
When we wrap out books, it’s usually manga. But it’s weird for Tsutaya of all stores to do it because the ones here aren’t wrapped and they were the first to promote customers to read before purchasing.