- The following is content from the press release -
Amagamina Games, LLC (located in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture; President: Masaya Inagaki) delivered a functional update to its smartphone application "Pocket Honya-san" on December 14 (Saturday), which aims to preserve the bookstore experience, which is being lost as the number of bookstores continues to decline, through digital technology, and added a new magazine section.
Download App
https://librub.onelink.me/THhk/newscast
About "Pocket Bookstore
Just like a bookstore in town, this application allows users to search for books from bookshelves by genre. The contents of the bookshelves in each genre are updated daily, incorporating new publications and topical books.
Background of "Pocket Bookstore" Development
In recent years, the number of bookstores in town has been declining at a rapid rate. Over the past decade, their number has declined by approximately 341 TP6T. The decline over the past year has been as severe as 550 stores.
In some areas, this continuing decline in bookstores is making it increasingly difficult to have the kind of chance encounters and discoveries with books that only a physical store can provide.
The total number of "no bookstore" municipalities with zero bookstores is 27.71 TP6T, and the total number of "no bookstore reserve" municipalities with only one bookstore reaches 47.41 TP6T. (Source: "Zero bookstore" municipalities are 271 TP6T, with Okinawa, Nagano, and Nara in the majority. https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUE273OK0X20C24A4000000/ )
We sought a way to fill the "bookstore experience" that is being lost through digital technology, and "Pocket Bookstore" was born, focusing on casual use in a person's spare time for those who do not have a bookstore nearby or who cannot take time to visit a bookstore due to work, childcare, or other reasons.
I am glad to have this kind of service because there is no bookstore nearby," "I was thrilled that it was just like a real bookstore," and "I think the good thing about bookstores is that you can encounter books in fields other than your own, but I didn't think you could do the same with an app. I think it's great that I can meet books outside of my favorite field at bookstores.
Newly established magazine corner
A new magazine section has been added to the application.
We have dedicated shelves for the magazine section, and only incorporate a cover-facing arrangement so that they are easy to view even on smartphones with small screens.
When you touch a magazine with your finger, an animation of taking it out at the top is added, and you can see the entire cover. As with bookshelves of other genres, you can feel the excitement of searching for magazines in an atmosphere similar to that of a visit to an actual bookstore.
Background of Establishment of Magazine Corner
The Pocket Bookstore operates with the aim of increasing encounters between people and books in the non-bookstore municipality, which is expected to increase in the future, through bookshelves by genre and a fair section featuring books based on a theme.
Genres are being added as they become available, with additional support for the Humanities/Thought and Social/Political/Legal genres in the update delivered on Friday, December 6, 2024.
In actual stores, magazine sales still account for a large percentage of total sales at 25.11 TP6T (data source: Nichiban "Actual Sales of Publications 2024").
Even today, when the Web and social networking services are often used as a source of information, magazines still have the advantage of their high editorial quality in terms of listability, reliability, and design quality.
The new magazine section will be available in the app to provide customers who have been visiting bookstores for magazines but are no longer able to go to physical stores due to bookstore closures or other reasons, with the opportunity to continue learning about newly released magazines.
We will continue to add more genres and expand our product lineup, aiming to make the application as usable as a real bookstore.
Outline of "Pocket Bookstore
App Name : Pocket Bookstore
Price : Free
Official website : https://librub.jp/
▼ Download the app
https://librub.onelink.me/THhk/newscast
For inquiries regarding this matter, please contact
Amagamina Games, LLC.
Representative: Masaya Inagaki
ina@amagamina.jp
Inquiry Form
https://amagamina.jp/contact/
About Us
Company Name: Amagamina Games, LLC
Location : 4-14-10 Senba-cho, Kawagoe-shi, Saitama
Representative: Masaya Inagaki
Establishment : June 2021
Business : Game and tool application development business
Corporate website : https://amagamina.jp/
Copyright (c) 2022-2024 Amagamina Games, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The book images (book cover images) used in this release are from publisher.com, which discloses the status of permission for third-party use of bibliographic and shadow information. https://www.hanmoto.com/ The images are downloaded and used from publishers and are different from what is actually displayed in the app. The copyrights to these images are held by the respective publishers, but are licensed for use by third parties under the terms of publisher.com.
Media Kit] https://librub.jp/guidelines/
