Bulk Orders Surge at Used Bookstores in Japan; 50 Tons Sent to U.S.

Since August, online secondhand bookstores across Japan have seen coordinated large-scale purchases that deviate from normal buying patterns: multiple accounts placed orders that funneled shipments to a single logistics center in Okayama, and the titles bought were largely specialist non-fiction - philosophy, history, medicine, law, Edo-period culture and decades-old political books - rather than the usual novels or comics. Individual shops reported dramatic spikes in turnover, including days when 100 books sold, one day with five times usual sales, and at least one store selling more than 1,000 volumes; the pacing and uniformity of orders led sellers to conclude the buying was automated.

Booksellers and the trade association interpret the phenomenon as deliberate collection of printed material for generative AI training; tracking shows over 50 tons of Japanese books recorded as exported to the United States, and there are accounts of physical books being scanned and then discarded. A logistics operator declined to discuss specific transactions. Shops welcome the extra revenue but express unease about how the cultural and monetary value of books is being transformed and potentially lost, and about the environmental and ethical implications of consuming and disposing of paper stock for AI datasets. Overseas inquiries requesting tens of thousands of volumes further underscore the scale of acquisition.