How wonderful!

Was it a japan specific book? I might've missed it but does Morioka operate the book store daily, or the author, or someone else? So many questions..

The economics of bookstores in Japan favours the shop owner much more than other places. Books are sold on consignment, you order books and pay the wholesaler once sold. Book doesn't sell, not your problem, return it to wholesaler. Publishers are also allowed to fix pricing on a new book. So you could make money but not a lot as the store owner pays freight.

2006 presentation from member of Japanese Book Publishers Association (English language) https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/bookmarket.pdf or more recent from 2022 https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/pdf/presentaionatTIBE2022.pdf, Both linked from https://www.jbpa.or.jp/en/index.html

Totally.

I'm familiar with the fascination (at least in Tokyo) with pop-up stores or new tiny places that sell just one niche thing (let's say "boutique popcorn", or a certain new type of doughnut) and are heavily marketed through SNS (social networks). But those places are quite ephemeral and are sustained by huge queues of people trying to buy "the new thing", and die in some weeks.

But with the Ginza location, even not being in the main street, no way they're covering the costs unless they're selling them for tens of thousands of yens each.

Also it's not like a new thing, they have Google reviews since at least 10 years ago. Unless they own the building or it's a marketing thing, I don't understand the business.

I'd bet that the product is not the book, it's the venue: a publisher would pay a lot of ¥ to get a new book to a place where people see their book, not to mention to a place where there's just one book in display and people probably queue to see that specific book.

This strikes me more as an art project than a commercial endeavour. It can obviously be both. I've worked with a friend on a similar boutique concept, and one of the driving factors in its possible success is scarcity economics, or the deliberate limiticy of products that drives intrigue, percieved value, and experience. These are all things that brand designers work tirelessly on (either to embody or avoid, branding is a very bizarre world in which many approaches work in many markets). I would wager a good bit that this probably lost money in isolation, but it being part of the design firms portfolio, it probably adds more value than it cost in credibility and brand identity/authenticity for themselves.

I would guess they are pricing them higher because the clientele are probably paying more.

What is the normal rent for a small room of that size in Ginza?

I would imagine there is a marketing budget covering the losses. Also, maybe the retail store owner is making them a favor regarding the rent, as the space can be cleared out quickly if they find a new tenant able to pay the full cost. And maybe the owner is a book lover.

It changes every six days as the article says

Given the complex logistics of storing and preparing ingredients in a restaurant, having only 5-6 options is not just about "giving an impression", but is an actual good sign about the freshness and quality of cooking.

I'm sure the person that gets paid to sit around all day and do whatever they want is fine, mentally. For some, that's a dream job, and the product basically sells itself.

This kind of stuff is all over Japan. "Stores" with almost nothing in them and me wondering who pays for them. Not that I mind. They are interesting.