Many have a stack of books at home that they don’t read. This is so common that the Japanese have a word for people who often buy books and never read them. This word is called tsundoku [積ん読] and there are many interesting curiosities and information that we will consider in this article.
Tsundoku [積ん読] is derived from the ideogram [積] which means to stack and accumulate, along with the ideogram for reading [読]. It refers to people who accumulate books, or who end up having a huge stock or pile of books.
This habit is quite common; I myself bought a stack of mangas in Japan and have never read them to this day. Japan is a country that values reading a lot, so the existence of the word Tsundoku is understandable. What few know is its origin.
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The origin of the word Tsundoku
It is believed that this word has existed since the Meiji era (1868-1912) and can be used both to indicate a literal stack of books or to refer to a person who buys books but never reads them. One of the oldest appearances of the word is in a text from 1879.
If you consider the word tsundoku literally, you might end up thinking that the expression means “to read a stack” of books. And that is indeed the goal of the word, to create a pun with the books we buy to read but do not read.
Tsundoku came from the verbs tsundeoku [積んでおく] which means to stack or accumulate in one place, along with the word dokusho [読書] which means reading. Notice that tsundeoku and tsundoku are quite similar, hence the pun.
The verb tsundeoku [積んでおく] is the combination of the verb tsumu [積む] which means to stack and to go out, along with oku [置く] which means to place in a location. Therefore, the expression tsundoku as stacking books and not reading makes perfect sense.
Tsundoku – Stacking Books in Japan
Some may imagine that collecting books in Japan must be difficult due to the lack of space. In reality, Japan does not have as little space as some think, only in large cities and apartments. Still, it is not so easy to have a library at home.
The Japanese appreciate practicality and minimalism. They are not so accustomed to accumulating books; some even throw away a weekly magazine and donate or sell their used books to a store. The libraries of used books and manga are numerous and very cheap.
Still, it is not uncommon to accumulate books, as there are Japanese who are not organized and simply stack things in their homes. Not to mention the Hikikomori who usually do not leave their homes and their rooms become a mess.
In Japan, this phenomenon of collecting books without reading is very common. People end up reading an entire manga in the weekly magazine and simply buy the volumes separately to have them as a collection, without necessarily touching them.
About 70% of the reading consumed in Japan is of Japanese origin. There are more than 100,000 new works every year, placing Japan in fourth place in the ranking. Japan generates nearly 20 billion dollars from books every year, half of which are magazines.
Even when reading is impossible, the presence of acquired books produces such ecstasy that buying more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching infinity… we appreciate books even when unread, their mere presence exudes comfort.
Edward Newton
The influence of the word Tsundoku in the World
Among readers all over the world, the word tsundoku has become very popular. People have brought this word into other languages as they did with karaoke, tsunami, and otaku.
Some have even used this word for other things like ebooks, movies, DVDs, games, smartphone apps, and others. Accumulating things and never using them is very common worldwide. Our lives are so hectic that we end up buying things unnecessarily.
Have you ever had that feeling of having bought something in desperation and then thought, I didn’t need this, I’m not even using it? With books, this is harder to happen; if a person has a stack of books, it is either a lack of time to read them or laziness.
Another word with a similar meaning is Bibliomania, which refers to people who like to collect and accumulate books. The big difference is that tsundoku can also be used to refer simply to a stack of books or a room full of books.
I hope this article has further explained the meaning of tsundoku; if you liked it, share and leave your comments. To finish, let’s leave some recommended articles below:
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