I was delighted today to run across a mention of the Mariko Aoki phenomenon. I have often noticed this in the past, and in talking with other book lovers I know I'm not alone. But it was very validating to see it formalized on Wikipedia as an actual phenomenon.
The Mariko Aoki phenomenon is named after the Japanese author who first identified this phenomenon in an essay she wrote for a Japanese magazine. She wrote about how inevitably when browsing a bookstore, she would find herself needing to use the restroom. So many people wrote in response to her essay chiming in with their own experiences that the phenomenon came to be named after her. (What an honor?)
What is it about browsing a bookstore that gives you the urge to move your bowels? It is an eternal mystery. Some people believe that it is the action of walking around slowly which signals your body to get things moving. Others theorize (presumably tongue-in-cheek) that "certain chemicals in paper or ink have a laxative effect."
Personally, I think it is a two-fold thing: first, because most bookstores have really nice bathrooms, so you are already primed to head to the head if needed. I bet if the bookstore bathroom situation was as bad as it is at, say, most grocery stores (where you have to walk through a pair of swinging double doors and down a long storage corridor) the prospect would be far less likely.
Second, the act of browsing through a bookstore is just inherently relaxing. Sometimes when I am really stressed out I will schedule half an hour to wander through a bookstore just to chill out. It's quiet, and full of great books, and of course there's usually coffee there, too. What's not to love?
(Just don't take one of the books in there with you. You may not be caught out by the staff like George Costanza, but it's gross for whoever might buy the book next.)
Image courtesy Flickr/Martin Cathrae
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