Go Yoshida, talent book collector, sneaks into the “Magic Cave of 10,000 Books”!

Talent books as a kind of accumulation of knowledge

─ Like today’s interview, there are often bookshelf projects, aren’t there? I want to see your bookshelf! Like “I want to see your bookshelf! Have you ever received such a request?

Yoshida Yes, I did once for a project for “Hon no Zasshi”. But I’m sorry that I was the only one with a bookshelf that didn’t show any intelligence.

Hahaha. I’m sorry that I’m the only one with a bookshelf that doesn’t show intelligence, but this is a unique collection of talent books, and I think it’s a microcosm of society. Do you have any recommendations for your own bookshelf?

Yoshida I think the Kenichi Takemura section is very interesting. There are quite a few books on the erotic side of Kenichi Takemura’s work.

He has published books on quite a few erotic themes, such as “Sekai Chingyou Mangyou” and “Sekai no Onna wa Ore no Te ni”.

I also like Akiko Kanazawa’s book, “Lodged Stool Removal and Slimming.

Yoshida Surprisingly, I do buy diet books by celebrities. They publish a diet book, but then they rebound and start dieting again.

There are many celebrities who publish psychic books. Some people, like Junji Inagawa and Tetsuro Tanba, make a business out of it, while others, unexpected people, suddenly publish books on this subject.

Yoshida Yes, there are. Yukio Hashi also published a bad one.

Hiki Rie suddenly published a book called “Healing at Shrines.

Yoshida Something probably happened just before the book was published (laughs). (laughs) For example, there was a book by Utae Shoji that is famous only for its title, “Utae’s Happy Kurukuru Shinrei Cafe.

Yoshida I was introduced as a “celebrity book collector” in the very early stages of my career in “Tamori Club” about 20 years ago. At that time, Mr. Tamori asked me, “What kind of book is this ‘Utae’s Happy Kurukuru Shinrei Cafe’? I answered, “I haven’t read every single one of them,” and he got angry (laughs).

(laughs) Haha. It’s a foolish question to ask a used book collector, “Have you read it? is a foolish question.

Yoshida I’m not sure if I’ve read even 10% of the books here. I do read them when I’m assigned an interview.

By the time I die, I want to put everything in the right order.

─ When a book collector’s bookshelf becomes saturated with books, he or she may give away books that have little value or are duplicates of books, thereby shaping up the collection. Do you ever do that?

Yoshida I don’t give away books except to celebrities, business partners, or friends.

I don’t give away books except to celebrities, business partners or friends. If I do, I’ll rent or buy another apartment, or hire someone to organize it for me. Or you can get rid of duplicate books to make up the space. I think there are many ways to do this.

Yoshida I have no intention of getting rid of them. I just want to organize them. I need to hire a part-time worker. There was a TV project once where they were going to empty out a room, put everything in a gymnasium, and have professionals organize it.　I thought it would be great, but the first time someone did it, it didn’t get that many viewers, so it was dropped.

That’s a shame.

Yoshida Also, in the days when there was room in the publishing industry, I would ask people to help me with magazine projects. A girl from a girl’s fashion magazine helped me.

What kind of a project is that (laughs)? (laughs) So you’ve never gotten rid of books before?

Yoshida I still regret getting rid of my anime books in the past, so I’m very determined not to throw them away. I gave away a lot of toys and other things to my friends.

I call myself a “professional collector” in imitation of Mr. Go Yoshida (professional interviewer), but I tend to throw things away. There are times when my desire for things suddenly disappears, and I throw them away or sell them all at once. I guess that’s why I was able to run a used bookstore.

Yoshida In my case, I have this idea that if I can’t keep things in this room any longer, I’ll just rent another room. So I’m thinking of renting another place where I can live. A room just for living.

─ Yes, if you just want to go home to sleep, you can rent a cheap apartment. But eventually that room will be overflowing with books.

Yoshida When I first started living on my own, I made a rule not to bring anything into the apartment, and since I only had clothes and a TV, I was able to live happily. But I end up like this, so it’s probably impossible (laughs).

─ Usually, when I write about collectors, I end up saying, “I’m going to die buried in my collection,” but this place (Mr. Yoshida’s study) feels a little different. I wonder if it’s because it’s not a “dead” collection, but an “active” one. What is your own wish for the future?　Do you want to move to a bigger place?

Yoshida Well, yes, but it all boils down to the fact that I want to organize my bookshelves properly. I want to put everything in the right order before I die. I want to be able to find the book I’m looking for immediately. I also want to put my magazines in order.

There is meaning in collecting things that take up space.

─ In the past, you were very active in collecting used books, weren’t you?　How are you doing these days?

Yoshida I don’t go out as much anymore, partly because I’m too busy, and partly because I can get so much done online. To be honest, I don’t find any bargains even when I try my best to go out.

I wonder if the increase in the number of enthusiasts is driving up the prices.

Yoshida The momentum of wasteful spending hasn’t changed at all, though. Recently, there has been an increase in overseas mail order.

What do you buy through overseas mail order?

Yoshida I’m completely turned on by bootleg T-shirts and the like. I buy official T-shirts, but there are also T-shirts of Japanese wrestling, manga, anime, etc. that are available overseas. There are also hardcore punk T-shirts that would be scary if they were released without permission.

I don’t want to say which bands, but the scary ones.

Yoshida I buy a lot of that stuff. If you buy something, a nice broker will give you a free gift or something.

(At this point, he goes to the back room and brings me some T-shirts.)

Yoshida I’ve just pulled out the ones that caught my eye, but this is a “Love Attack! T-shirt. This is a “Love Attack!” t-shirt, and a “Tanokin Trio 3 Ball Concert” t-shirt. This is a very rare Kenji Sawada T-shirt.

I don’t know what’s so rare about it, but I don’t think I’d understand if you asked me why, so I won’t ask (laughs).

Yoshida I also have a ZZ Top 1976 tour T-shirt.

Yoshida Why do you have such a thing?

Yoshida It was sold at a toy show about 30 years ago at a very low price. Someone who probably didn’t know the value of it put a price of about 500 yen on it.

The shirt was out of place (laughs). By the way, there’s a red jacket on top of the pile of talent goods over here.

Yoshida: It’s a Match and Akina item. It’s something that shouldn’t exist in Japan.

Yoshida It has a badge that says “M & A”, which shouldn’t exist.

This is amazing!　Is it purely out of interest that you collect these things?

Yoshida Yes, there are a lot of things that he doesn’t have, and that don’t have any historical data, so I feel obligated to buy them.

So I feel obligated to buy them. -How do you find such rare talent goods?　If it’s something you know exists, you can probably find it by searching for it by its name.

Yoshida I don’t do it so much now, but I used to search all over Yahoo! There’s a category called “talent goods”, and I would just go through there looking for lice. When I was crazy, I made a rule that I couldn’t stop bidding on Yahoo!

The 300,000 yen a month rule!　That’s really crazy (laughs).

Yoshida I search for “talent books/men” and 99% of the items I find are things I don’t need, but I keep trying to find something I never expected. It’s a pain in the ass.

I’m not in a position to laugh at you because I do something similar in the “record” category.

Yoshida I don’t do that much now, so it’s a little easier. I still search for staff jumpers, but I don’t need them, and only occasionally do I find something like this (Match, Akina, etc.).

I don’t mean to sound like the KonMari method, but the trend in the world is to “throw away what you don’t need.

Yoshida People say that if something doesn’t appeal to you, throw it away.

I see. All the things in this room are things that made Go Yoshida’s heart flutter!　This statue of Beat Takeshi’s curry shop (Kitano India Co., Ltd.) would make even me crush, but if you ask me if I want it, I don’t. But if you’re asking me if I want it, I don’t. It’s too big and it’s in the way. And you have Mr. Umemiya at the entrance.

Yoshida No, there’s a point to collecting things that take up space.

Oh, I’m impressed.

Yoshida Yes, the clothes on the mannequins are by any chance the same as the ones on the mannequins.

Yoshida Yes, it’s Yasushi Yokoyama’s costume, which was given to me directly by Kazuya Kimura.

Wow!

Yoshida “Gou-kun, do you want my father’s clothes? Yoshida: “Gou-kun, do you want my father’s clothes?” He said, “Yes, I do! I answered immediately. Do you want a trophy or something? “Yes, I do!” Do you need any trophies?” “No, no, no, not even trophies!” So he sent me a set. The hat and glasses are real.

It’s amazing. Yassan was a dynamic person, but Ichihachi is also too dynamic. But I think I came to the person who will take the best care of me.

Yoshida As expected, I wanted to decorate it properly, so I bought a mannequin (torso) for the first time in my life and dressed it.

I bought a mannequin (torso) for the first time in my life and put it on. I would like to put them in a museum eventually. Rather than valuable items that everyone recognizes as valuable, they are more like flowers of the times, so if Mr. Yoshida doesn’t collect them, they won’t remain.

(Postscript)
Even the best used bookstores, let alone Manita Shobo, can’t match the amount of stuff in Mr. Yoshida’s room, which is filled with various faces from the Japanese entertainment industry. Like Motoko Arai’s and Natsuhiko Kyogoku’s bookshelves, I think it’s time for Mr. Yoshida to start building a huge scale library.　Perhaps it is this chaos that suits the universe of “talent books”.

(This series will be updated on the first Friday of every month. The next installment is scheduled for March 4. Please look forward to it!)