Kashi-hon
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese phrase for books and magazines that are rented out. Kashi-hon often refers also to the industry it was based on.
Kashi-hon was introduced in Japan
in the Edo period
because books were too expensive for common people to buy, and therefore people would prefer borrowing over buying. Some "librarians" would travel around in order to increase their clientele and make more money.
The kashi-hon market exploded after World War II
all over Japan. People of both genders and all ages rented books, manga and monthly magazines. However, when libraries were built nationwide and publishers started to print more copies of their books and magazines so they could be sold for lower prices in the mid-1950s, the number of kashi-hon decreased dramatically. In today's Japan there are only a few kashi-hon stores left, and the market is very small.
Kashi-hon is called "zu shu dian" (租書店) in Chinese. In Taiwan, it is a store that buys the books and rents them to customers to get the profit. Usually, the books in kashi-hon are comics, novels, and magazines. Besides renting books, some stores help customers to order books and also provide VCD or DVD for renting.
Kashi-hon was introduced in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
because books were too expensive for common people to buy, and therefore people would prefer borrowing over buying. Some "librarians" would travel around in order to increase their clientele and make more money.
The kashi-hon market exploded after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
all over Japan. People of both genders and all ages rented books, manga and monthly magazines. However, when libraries were built nationwide and publishers started to print more copies of their books and magazines so they could be sold for lower prices in the mid-1950s, the number of kashi-hon decreased dramatically. In today's Japan there are only a few kashi-hon stores left, and the market is very small.
Kashi-hon is called "zu shu dian" (租書店) in Chinese. In Taiwan, it is a store that buys the books and rents them to customers to get the profit. Usually, the books in kashi-hon are comics, novels, and magazines. Besides renting books, some stores help customers to order books and also provide VCD or DVD for renting.