The Hands That Carry Books
The first edition of A Daibo Coffee Manual was published in 2015.
One thousand copies were printed using traditional letterpress techniques in Japan. Each page was hand-typeset and printed at a letterpress studio with more than seventy years of history.
That first edition is now long out of print.
The edition currently in circulation was published in 2024 as part of the NAHOKO PRESS ARCHIVE PROJECT, an effort to preserve not only the words of the book, but also the memory of the craftsmanship behind it.
Yet books do not travel through time on their own.
They move from printer to publisher.
From publisher to bookseller.
And from bookseller to reader.
This is the story of some of the hands that carried A Daibo Coffee Manual into the world.
Carrying Books Through New York
In the autumn of 2015, A Daibo Coffee Manual travelled to New York.
The book was exhibited at the NY Art Book Fair, one of the world's largest gatherings dedicated to independent publishing and artists' books.
When the fair ended, there were still books left to carry.
So copies were packed into a bag and taken across the city.
From Manhattan to Brooklyn, independent bookshops were visited one by one.
The same question was asked repeatedly:
Would you consider stocking this book from Japan?
Many shop owners responded with unexpected generosity.
More than half agreed to carry the book on consignment.
Some specialised in art and design.
Others focused on architecture, photography, craft, or independent publishing.
Each shop offered something slightly different: a shelf, a display, a conversation, an introduction.
Over time, the books travelled further than originally imagined.
San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Portland, Bangkok, and Auckland.
Little by little, they found new homes.
Booksellers Reading Books
Years later, the book had travelled far beyond New York.
What is most moving to look back on is not simply that these shops stocked the book, but the care with which they introduced it to their readers.
Each bookseller described the same book differently.
Yet certain themes appeared again and again: craftsmanship, patience, memory, curiosity, and the act of sharing coffee.
In San Francisco, William Stout Architectural Books described the book as:
A beautiful and faithful reprint of this cult classic, detailing, in microscopic detail, Tokyo coffee legend Katsuji Daibo's philosophy on everything from brewing methods to tools, flowers to cafe ambiance, staff attitude to the perfect tumbler, etc., all in 32 beautifully printed pages.
A Daibo Coffee Manual isn't just a primer for the aspiring cafe-owner, it's a small hymn to the act of making and sharing coffee.
In Portland, Storied Objects devoted an entire journal essay to the book.
Among many observations, one passage stood out:
I could go on about what I've taken away from this short read, but above all, A Daibo Coffee Manual has shown me just how personal coffee can be. Whether prepared for yourself or for another, shared or enjoyed alone. It can be a placeholder for slowness instead of haste, and offer a means of connection even if few words are exchanged.
On the other side of the Pacific, in Auckland, Public Record approached the book from yet another angle.
She described Daibo Coffee not simply as a café, but as a place woven into the cultural memory of Minami-Aoyama:
This cafe is heavily nostalgic and holds great importance for many locals and creators in the area (Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo), including a loyal clientele, HARUKI MURAKAMI and other cultural giants among them. This small book presents the background of this special institution to so many, through the eyes of its creator.
Reading these introductions, it becomes clear that no two booksellers see exactly the same book.
And perhaps that is precisely the point.
As Mr. Daibo once wrote:
The good thing about coffee is, that if there are a hundred people, there are a hundred varieties of coffee, and if there are a hundred people, there are a hundred ways to drink it.
Perhaps books are not so different.
The Hands That Carry Books
Looking back, it is difficult to say exactly how far a book travels.
A book may begin with a writer, a printer, or a publisher.
But its journey rarely ends there.
It passes through many hands.
The bookseller who makes room on a shelf.
The shop owner who writes a recommendation.
The reader who decides to take a copy home.
The friend who later passes it on.
Over the years, A Daibo Coffee Manual has travelled through cafés, bookshops, galleries, libraries, studios, and homes across many countries.
Books rarely travel alone.
They are carried by many hands.
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