Even though we’re a bookbinding company, we’ll be exhibiting at the “Library General Exhibition 2025”
Tokyo Art Paper Crafts Association Press Release: October 21, 2025 Despite being a bookbinding company, we will be exhibiting at the “Library General Exhibition 2025” Getting to know how paper books are made is the shortcut to becoming a book lover! We’ll also share tips on book repairs. Held October 22-24, 2025 at Pacifico Yokohama. A bookbinding company with half a century of experience binding books, from hardcover to softcover. Following last year’s participation, the Tokyo Art Paper Crafts Association (Itabashi-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Hirotaka Kato) will be exhibiting at the Library General Exhibition, the largest library convention, from October 22nd to 24th. By focusing on bookmaking, not just its contents, we aim to contribute to expanding the readership of books. We will incorporate online elements to provide a hands-on experience of bookmaking for anyone who wants to learn from librarians, regardless of their location. At the event, we will introduce our “One-Day Bookbinder” bookbinding training program, which offers grade-specific training. We will also offer free trials of our “KURUMI” bookbinding kit, which can be used for library events, and demonstrate helpful tips for book repair, one of the most common problems libraries face. Tokyo Artist Paper Manufacturers Association Website [URL] https://www.tobi.or.jp/sljp/
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/152347/3/152347-3-38d43d386343c6642e427490c275134f-3900×2925.jpg Bookbinding Training “One-Day Bookbinder” Advanced Course:
Hand-binding Practical Scene Enjoying and understanding the process of book production can also help you realize the value of publishing. A bookbinding factory is where large, flat, printed sheets of paper are transformed into 3D books, but opportunities to understand this process are very limited for those outside of the process. However, this information is essential for librarians and other library staff whose daily work involves managing books, as they serve as a bridge between library users and the world of books. We will be offering four courses at the venue, ranging from those aimed at librarians who will learn about the structure and process of a book to those aimed at a wide range of users, from children to seniors, who visit libraries to enjoy books. They will allow anyone to easily learn about and experience the mechanisms of bookbinding.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/152347/3/152347-3-6c312d0cd86b69e4617a9823a355266c-522×941.png Bookbinding Training “One-Day Bookbinder” Intermediate Course – Observing Machine Bookbinding 1) Introductory KURUMI Course This year, we will continue to offer a corner where you can try out one book for free using the “KURUMI Bookbinding Kit,” which was developed by our association and has been well-received at children’s book events and library workshops, and which had a waiting list at last year’s exhibition. (It includes flower cloth, spin, and spin charm(R) binding parts that are not included in the kit.) It has been widely adopted not only in Japan but also in New York and other places (it has also been patented overseas). Previously, we would send instructor staff to the event venue, but by providing a support environment for live online streaming, anyone across the country can enjoy book-making, as long as they have a connection. The second half of the 90-minute program, where participants create hardcover mini-books, is enough to understand how bookbinding works. However, previous events have proven that providing a bookbinding lecture tailored to participants’ ages, including video, in the first half of the program, increases understanding and fosters a greater love for books. We have received a 99% satisfaction rating.
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/152347/3/152347-3-55bce5edc1af01c292fad887af499bcc-425×566.jpg Introductory KURUMI Course – Workshop Scene 2) Beginner’s Kurumi PRO Course This course combines the experience of creating a book from scratch. Following a “Bookbinding Lecture” that goes deeper than the introductory course, a virtual bookbinding factory tour featuring immersive bookbinding machines is also available online. You’ll create one book using KurumiPRO (patented in 2024) (with floral fabric, spinning, and Spin Charm®). You’ll also receive one additional KurumiPRO set to take home. Using this kit, you can experience both the creative process and the imposition process of printing, where multiple pages are arranged on one page. 3) Intermediate TAKUMI Course This is a more in-depth course where you can learn about bookbinding from the ground up. If the course is held in person, you will be able to tour a bookbinding factory where actual bookbinding machines are in operation. If the course is held online, you will be given a virtual tour using video recordings of the internal workings of the machines, which are not normally available to the public. Using our newly developed “TAKUMI Bookbinding Kit,” we provide a set with all the necessary tools to create a single A6 square-spine hardback book at a remote location, workplace, or home, without having to travel to a training center at our factory.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/152347/3/152347-3-470e9aa37b6f2225e1f258f619038044-606×455.jpg “One-Day Bookbinder” Intermediate Course: Original Teaching Materials: TAKUMI 4) Advanced One-Day Bookbinder Course This is our most comprehensive course. This full-day course allows you to see an actual machine-binding factory and experience the hand-binding methods used by artisans. This course is held only in person at our association factory and is not available online. You will be able to create one 46-size, round-spine, hardcover book. Book Repair Tips Demonstration Corner During the event, we will be holding demonstrations of bookbinding techniques that will provide hints for repairing damaged books, a common problem we hear about in daily library operations. Inspiration behind the development of the bookbinding training program In the face of the reality that the paper book market is shrinking with each passing year, our association has continued to develop products that highlight the fascinating process of binding printed paper together, a tradition dating back to Gutenberg, to help people realize the creativity involved in binding paper books and provide an opportunity for them to experience a love for the book itself, thereby highlighting the potential and role of paper books. The development of this training program and our efforts to make its content available online are part of this effort. Fortunately, this project was recognized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and we were able to work on digitalizing bookbinding training as a commissioned project under the Tokyo Metropolitan Federation of Small Business
Associations’ “Special Support for New Strategic Support for Small Business Associations, etc.: ‘Project to Strengthen Sales Capabilities Using Digital Technology.'” We are thrilled to finally be able to deliver the results. While we faced more challenges than we expected, starting with video planning, which is unfamiliar to our association, we believe we managed to create more interesting content than we anticipated. In this way, people from all over Japan, who may have little connection to bookbinding factories, a specialized industry largely concentrated in the Tokyo area, can now experience the joys of bookbinding firsthand. We sincerely hope that this will be an opportunity for book lovers in general, especially young people who are just beginning to develop their intellectual and emotional sides, to become familiar with humanity’s intellectual heritage by
experiencing a part of the book-making process. Other examples of our association’s products to date and future prospects – Even bookbinding can be environmentally friendly – In addition to our series of bookbinding kits, our association has continued to develop
technologies and products related to bookbinding for both businesses and consumers. This has resulted in the development of several patented technologies and new designs. Representative examples of business-oriented technologies include the “Hide and Seek Book” (patent: disc storage technology inside the cover/plastic-free), the “Flat Book” (patent: wide-open paperback technology), and the “Book-in-Book” (booklet-within-booklet integration). For consumer products, we offer a lineup of products such as “Spin Charm®,” which breathes new life into discarded cardboard covers as decorative items, and “Flower Fabric Spin for KURUMI Bookbinding Kit,” which also utilizes discarded materials. About the Tokyo Fine Arts and Paper Crafts Association 【Company Profile】 Company name: Tokyo Art Paper Industry Cooperative Association Head office location: 3-28-19 Funato, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Representative Director: Hirotaka Kato Business content: Book binding and printing Established: September 25, 1962 HP:https://www.tobi.or.jp/sljp/ Product sales site:
https://bookstandga.com/
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