I only saw hentai books wrapped in plastic in Japan but I didn't go to many bookstores while there.

The whole idea plastic waste is bad doesn't seem to have made it over to Asia.

When we wrap out books, it's usually manga. But it's weird for Tsutaya of all stores to do it because the ones here aren't wrapped and they were the first to promote customers to read before purchasing.

National could barely able to sell publications as by 2010s nearly everyone went to spend more time online -- ebooks, social media, etc. -- and even the browsers have disappeared as magazines started to end publication due to mass disinterest, so leaving the stationery business the only thing keeping it afloat.

Strangely, asides from Fully Booked and that small Japanese bookstore in an uppity part of Manila, the Big Bad Wolf book festival draws a large crowd of bookworms. That for used books, a chain called Booksale is still alive and well -- there I bought a 20-year-old paperback copy of Blackhawk Down in fair condition.