Many bookstores in Tokyo have adopted cafes so you could have a drink and read some interesting new titles. If you are simply having tea, your eyelids could get droopy and sometimes you doze off. When the location closes, you are normally kicked out, since bookstores aren’t open 24 hours a day. What if you could get the best of both worlds, a bookstore that encourages you to sleep?
Set to open this September, Book and Bed is a cooperation between designers Suppose Design Office, bookstore-cum-publisher Shibuya Publishing Booksellers, and real estate boutique R-Store.
The one big selling point behind this new operation is you don’t have your own private room,  but has a communal vibe. Suppose Design Office’s bookshelves have bunks you can crawl into, capsule hotel-style. And like a capsule hotel, these are not exactly private rooms, but I suppose if you are dreaming of dozing off in a bookstore, you are OK with that.
There is no word yet on how they are handling showers, washrooms and changing areas, likely it will be all shared, hostel style. There isn’t any information yet on if it will be c0-ed or not, or whether everyone will share the same space.
I think this is an excellent idea, a hotel, cafe and bookstore blended together where you can buy books and lounge around. This might make an excellent location to meet fellow bibliophiles or a meeting place for a book club.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.