August 2006
As a child growing up in Japan, books were Hiro Nakatani's window to the outside world, a way of relaxing, passing the time and learning about new and fascinating ideas.
A half century later, Nakatani is hoping to pass that love of reading on to a new generation of young people.
A longtime Victoria REALTOR®, Nakatani recently donated close to 2,000 Japanese titles to the Greater Victoria Public Library's foreign book collection.
"I've read them all three or four times anyway and I just wanted to share them with others," said Nakatani, who has lived in Victoria for 20 years.
The 2,000 titles contain a bit of everything, from suspense to political texts by both English and Japanese writers, to classics by the likes of Dostoyevsky that have been translated into Japanese.
"Japanese books are not easy to find. There are a lot of Japanese students in Victoria who might enjoy them," said Nakatani, whose voracious reading habit took hold on long train rides to and from school as a youth.
"I'm a REALTOR® and it's kind of hectic everyday, so reading is my relaxation. If I can read for even half an hour it helps me forget about the day."
The books, currently being catalogued at the GVPL's Juan de Fuca branch, will double the library's storehouse of Japanese titles, said GVPL community relations manager Susan Henderson.
GVPL has more than a dozen languages represented in its foreign books collection and tries to accommodate as many of the major language groups as possible in the available space.
"We try to match what could be called the higher demographic profiles. Our collection is much broader than what you would expect."
This article is protected by copyright and is licensed only for your personal use. All other rights are reserved. This article may not be reproduced, retransmitted, disseminated, sold, distributed, published, broadcast or circulated without the prior written consent of CanWest Global Interactive Inc.