That Kansai-linked paperback you gave up on because it was no longer sold is coming back to your local bookshop. Re Bunko, a paperback brand from Dai Nippon Printing (DNP), is reissuing four out-of-stock or not-scheduled-for-reprint titles connected to the Kansai region, chosen on the recommendation of booksellers. Limited quantities go on sale in stages from Saturday, October 17, 2026, at a total of 111 stores run by eight bookstore companies.
It starts with booksellers who want to sell a book again
The project is called “Gotochi Bunko Revival Fes! 2026 in Kansai” (a revival festival for local paperbacks). It is the second edition of an initiative DNP launched last year, held as a “BOOK MEETS NEXT” event. Partner publishers put forward paperbacks with ties to Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Shiga, Nara or Wakayama that are now hard to find, and booksellers picked the ones they wanted to put back into readers’ hands. The reprints use DNP’s digital manufacturing technology, which can print small runs.
Taking part are Ogaki Shoten, Bunkyodo, Kikuya Shoten, Ukaiya Shoten, Maruzen Junkudo, Kinokuniya, Asahiya Shoten and Tsutaya Books. Each title is sold by specific bookstores, and some stores outside Kansai also carry them. Release dates and stock vary by store.
Four titles, from mysteries to a road novel
In Yutaka Maya’s “Meitantei Kisarazu Yuya” (Great Detective Yuya Kisarazu, Kobunsha), a detective and his assistant take on four cases that unfold alongside the appearance of a white ghost, including the murder of a wealthy man in a Western-style mansion. The author is a Kyoto University graduate, and many readers had asked for this book to be reprinted.
“Tsugi no machi made, kimi wa donna uta o utau no?” (What Song Will You Sing Until the Next Town?, Kawade Shobo Shinsha) by Osaka-born Tomoka Shibasaki follows a couple driving from Osaka to Tokyo and the two men who hitch a ride with them. The Kansai-dialect conversations in the car are a highlight. It is sold only at Tsutaya Books.
Fumie Kondo’s “Aoba no koro wa owatta” (The Season of Green Leaves Is Over, Kobunsha) is a mystery that begins when a woman falls to her death from a hotel in the Osaka suburbs and her old university friends receive mysterious postcards from her. It is exclusive to Maruzen Junkudo.
“Mahoro-shi no satsujin” (Murders in Mahoro City, Shodensha) is a collection in which four writers — Alice Arisugawa, Takemaru Abiko, Jun Kurachi and Yutaka Maya — each write a case for one season, all set in a fictional city. The line-up centers on authors with ties to Kyoto. It is sold at Kinokuniya and Asahiya Shoten.
Three of the four titles are sold only at certain bookstores, so if you have your eye on one, it is a good idea to check which stores carry it and whether it is in stock first.
Talks in Kyoto and at Osaka Station
On release day, Saturday, October 17, from 13:00, Yutaka Maya will give a talk and signing at Ogaki Shoten Nijo Station store, interviewed by 谷村貴士 of Ogaki Shoten. It will also be streamed as a Zoom webinar, but some tickets have already sold out.
On Sunday, October 18, from 14:00, booksellers from three bookstores in Umeda will take the stage at “Yomi no Ichi @ Osaka Vol. 2”, a market event at Toki no Hiroba (the “Plaza of Time and Space”) on the 5th floor of JR Osaka Station, to talk about why they chose the books and what went on behind the reissues.
Product details
- On sale: in stages from Saturday, October 17, 2026 (limited quantities)
- “Meitantei Kisarazu Yuya”, Yutaka Maya / Kobunsha: ¥1,210 (tax included) (Ogaki Shoten, Bunkyodo, Kikuya Shoten, Ukaiya Shoten, Maruzen Junkudo, Kinokuniya, Asahiya Shoten)
- “Tsugi no machi made, kimi wa donna uta o utau no?”, Tomoka Shibasaki / Kawade Shobo Shinsha: ¥1,210 (tax included) (Tsutaya Books only)
- “Aoba no koro wa owatta”, Fumie Kondo / Kobunsha: ¥1,100 (tax included) (Maruzen Junkudo only)
- “Mahoro-shi no satsujin”, Alice Arisugawa and others / Shodensha: ¥1,320 (tax included) (Kinokuniya and Asahiya Shoten only)
- Yutaka Maya talk and signing: Saturday, October 17, from 13:00 (reception from 12:45), Ogaki Shoten Nijo Station store. Details (Japanese): https://www.books-ogaki.co.jp/post/70642
- Yomi no Ichi stage event: Sunday, October 18, 14:00–15:00, Toki no Hiroba, 5F, JR Osaka Station (free admission). Details (Japanese): https://experience-design.jp/yominoichi/event/osaka2610
