Every time our eyes met, I thought I had to buy something, and that,…

Kojima says that going to a bookstore was a daily routine he did not abandon even during the frenetic start of his studio. There he takes books in his hands, buys the ones that call to him, and loses himself reading them; on business trips he is not at ease unless he has several books in his bag, and he considers choosing and reading books to be part of who he is.

Kojima keeps the purchase receipt inside nearly every book on his shelves. The receipt, printed with the store’s name and the date and time, brings back not only the book’s content but also what he experienced before going to the bookstore, where he read it, and the imprint the story left; even a boring book becomes associated with a memory he considers uniquely his.

“Every time I went, there were less and less books available. And then I realized it was because I was buying all the books.”

“As I reflect on that time, maybe it was my escape from reality.”

“I say meet because books have faces. The cover, the title, the design, the bindings. There are moments when you feel a spark.”