Books Kinokuniya

In the middle of Sydney City, there is a big bookstore.
It is a huge bookstore located on the 2nd floor of Galeries Victoria, and as the name suggests, it is a large Japanese bookstore brand.
It feels similar to Korea’s Kyobo Bookstore.
As a Korean, I felt both envious and resentful that such a bookstore can be found in the center of Sydney.

There were some Korean bookstores in Strathfield’s Korean town, but they were not as large-scale as this one.
However, having such a large-scale Japanese bookstore in the center of the city made me feel jealous and resentful.

In the bookstore, I saw many Japanese books along with English books, and it seemed that there were many Japanese people living in Australia and exerting various influences.
Until 2009, Japanese people were treated differently from Koreans in Australia.

Koreans had to work for 90 days in a tax job on a farm to get a second visa, but Japanese people could get a second visa without any special conditions if they wanted to.
(The conditions for a second visa may have changed by now.)
Amidst this, seeing such a large Japanese bookstore brand in the city made me feel both jealous and resentful.

Actually, I felt overwhelmed and thought it was an accurate expression.
But I didn’t express it.
What’s important is not the appearance, but the reality.

After that day, I returned to Korea and soon after, there was a phrase engraved in my heart.

“Don’t be deceived by appearances.
There is only one reality.”
– 1Q84 (the Japanese famous novel written by Murakami Haruki)