We are a tiny bookstore located in Puli, a town in the country side surrounded by huge mountains and known as central Taiwan. This store is run by two people, a Taiwanese owner and a Japanese manager. We have not only Chinese books but also lots of Japanese and English books, including magazines, picture books and photo albums. A wide range of topics are covered, so men and women of all ages can come visit us and enjoy reading. 

As most small business owners do, we created our store with our own hands from the beginning. Because of COVID-19 pandemic, it took some time for us to get  together at first but soon we joined each other,and things got started in full swing. We painted walls on our 2F in blueish colors to create a space where people can relax and concentrate on their readings.  To make bookshelves, we mostly used woods and concrete blocks, which was very hard work. A carpenter, who is one of our friends, helped us to make them. Some paintings and photographs that our friends kindly gave us are put up everywhere in our store and thanks to their help, our store can also function as a small gallery. We have some plants in our store too, and they definitely add to our relaxing atmosphere. Some of our books were donated by our friends. Without the help of people, we wouldn't be where we are today. We really appreciate it.

To the people of Puli, we decided to offer our place and give them as many chances as possible to see the world that they’ve never known before. Reading books is one of the best ways to broaden perspective, so we value the creatation of private space where people can relax and get into their readings. We also have a bedroom for those who want to stay overnight to read or get some rest. Reading is also a good way to make friends. We want to share our thoughts on books, or everyday life, and get to know each other. We believe there are many book-lovers and Art-lovers in Puli, so we would also like to create a community specific to art and culture eventually. We hope this would bring a new wind to this country town. Especially since neither of us are from Puli, so as outsiders, we would love to share some views from other worlds to Puli.

To achieve our goal, we are also planning to hold events regularly. We will do reading classes, language exchanges, movie nights, sharing travel experiences, learning culture and history of Japan and Taiwan, and other events. It is very important to create a community. Since we are using different languages, sometimes it is hard to understand what other people are saying. But by helping each other, including those who attend the events, to solve the problem, we can hear the things that they are talking about and deeply understand it. We hope this will encourage them to develop mutual trust with each other and a new community will be formed. We will also hold these kinds of events in Taipei. Because, in Taipei, there are more Taiwanese who can speak Japanese, who want to speak Japanese, than in Puli, we thought it's a good idea to offer them opportunities to use Japanese. To be active in big cities like Taipei would give us different angles and show us the ways where we should go, how to grow our business and what we can do to contribute to society. In the early stage of our planning, through these events, we will create an environment in Puli that will help residents to experience things they usually don't, and in Taipei, we will offer opportunities to those who want to deepen their Japanese skill and will establish a foundation for doing our business in the big city.

While we are working to create a new community, we will definitely avoid being a place where lone customers feel afraid of coming. The place that makes you nervous to go inside alone. We understand that there are people who want to be alone or feel no need to belong to any community. We prioritize customers who come alone or just stop by. To offer them spaces where they can enjoy their readings, where they can get into their own world, only for a short period, is the most challenging part. We don’t want to waste their time. Even if they were one-time customers and stay for a short time, we want to give them a special time. We would appreciate it, if they can feel good, feel lucky, and feel like “it was good today because I happened to find a interesting place.” Moreover, we hope that travelers who come to Puli alone will find us and stay at our place. That experience will make their traveling a more special one. Only one bedroom is in our store and we can hold up to 2 persons at the same time. That means if people stay here, after we close our shop at 8pm, they can enjoy our store by themselves alone. They can experience being in a house full of books and art. It would be a wonderful time for them. Therefore, after this pandemic settles down we expect to meet lots of lone travelers, like backpackers, and if our store can add something to their own experiences, being a very small part of their own stories, we would be grateful. We won’t forget there are people who feel comfortable to be alone and want to find the place where they can appreciate their solitude.

This is my introduction of our store. I wrote this in English because our store is for those who want to see the outside world, and using Japanese and English is important to make us known in Puli, or all around Taiwan.

Thank you.

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我們是一家小書店，位於埔里，一個被高山環繞的小鎮以位居台灣的中心位置而著名。這個書店由兩個人營運，台灣老闆和日本店長。我們不只有中文書還有很多日文和英文書，包含雜誌、圖畫繪本、攝影寫真集。藏書類型廣泛，所以不分性別年齡都可來訪並享受閱讀的樂趣。

如同所有小店的經營者，在籌備初期我們親手打造出書店空間。一開始由於新冠肺炎的影響，我們兩人歷經一段時間後才得以會合、不過很快地在聚首後我們以全速進行事業的開展。我們將書店2樓油漆成藍色的色調以營造出人們可以放鬆並專心閱讀的空間。至於書架我們主要是以木板和水泥空心磚打造，那可算是重勞動的工作。我們一個木工朋友(卻是其中唯一擁有書店工作經歷)在此協助頗多。店裡佈置的畫作和攝影作品來自友人的慷慨捐贈，感謝他們的協助。我們的書店空間也可以當做小型藝廊使用。書店裡也有植栽，當然藉由植物的魔力緩和了整個空間的氛圍。有些藏書是由友人所捐贈。沒有大家的協助我們達不到如今呈現的成果。真的是萬般感謝。

對於埔里的人們，我們想要提供一個空間有機會可以接觸未知的世界。透過閱讀可以拓展視界、因此我們重視呈現一個獨享的空間讓人們可以不受干擾地享受閱讀。我們也為有過夜或休息需求的人準備了一間臥室。

閱讀也是交朋友的好方法。我們想藉由書本分享我們的所思所想、日常生活來認識彼此。相信埔里有許多愛書人與藝術愛好者，因此我們的終極目標也想特別為同好們建構一個藝文社群。尤其因為我們兩人皆非埔里當地人，就順勢善用外地人的身份與埔里分享來自他方的視野。

為達成我們的目標，我們也計畫定期舉辦活動。包含讀書會、語言交換電影之夜、分享旅遊經驗、台灣與日本文化的學習活動等。建立社群很重要。因為我們使用不同的語言，有時很難理解人們所要傳達的內容。但是藉由互相幫忙(也包括活動的參與者)我們得以傾聽他們所述說並深刻地理解，問題也自然地解決。我們希望這些歷程將鼓勵人們發展彼此間的信賴以形成新的社群。我們也會在台北舉辦這些活動，因為較之埔里對日語的活動需求更大。除了提供日語活動的服務外，藉由與都會群眾的交流，能幫助我們以不同的角度的觀點再回饋到埔里當地。

在我們營造新社群時，會避免將貿易風書旅打造成讓隻身的客人敬而遠之的空間。我們理解人類有獨處的需求，有不需歸屬於任何團體的時刻。我們將優先滿足單獨前來的顧客的需求，為他們提供能夠享受閱讀的地方，縱使只有片刻可以沉浸其中。我們很重視提供人們獨享閱讀的特別時光，即使客人只短暫待在我們書店一次而已，只要他們感覺很棒、幸運，就因為他剛好發現我們書店這個有趣的空間。另外也希望隻身來埔里的旅人會來我們書店甚至過夜。視這個經驗讓他們的旅遊別有收穫。書店裡特地準備了一間客房，若是兩位前來的話，我們願意再開放供團體活動使用的電影室。目的就是希望提供不受干擾的獨處空間。如果旅客在此過夜，就能在書店晚上八點打烊後，獨佔整個書店的空間，沉浸在閱讀與藝術的世界裡。因此當新冠肺炎的疫情平息後，我們期待會與更多單獨的旅人相遇，例如背包客等。希望即使是小小一個插曲也好，我們會很感恩書店能被記憶在旅人的故事中。我們在乎人類獨處的需求並盡力提供一個可以安心獨享的空間。

以上是我們書店的簡介，我以英文書寫因為我們書店的宗旨是提供一扇通往外界的窗，並且使用日文與英文能提高我們在埔里以及全台灣的辨識度。

謝謝。