ABOUT US

We believe that each book is filled with deep emotion and passion. Since the days of papyrus, humans have been conveying their desire to “tell the truth” through written words. I believe this is a fundamental human desire.

Over thousands of years, it has become increasingly difficult to straightforwardly convey “the truth we want to tell.” We want to take on the role of connecting those who want to tell the truth with those who want to know the truth. In an era overflowing with various means and information, we believe that the power of books is the true means to convey “the truth.”

[Note] In an era where books don’t sell well, a bestseller with 500,000 copies! We asked the PR expert Mr. Kuroda, “How can books sell?”

QUESTO is a book PR agency. Teaming up with publishers, we aim to deliver the brilliance of authors and their books to people who have yet to discover them, ensuring the authors’ thoughts reach across Japan and the world. What we value most is working in unity with editors and authors to devise the best PR and the most suitable methods from among all media, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, web, and social media.

We were born as the sons of “Kuroda Bookstore” in Chiba. Kuroda Bookstore was started 45 years ago by our parents, who loved books and wanted to have a job that they could enjoy for a long time. We grew up surrounded by books.

Kuroda Bookstore had two distinctive features. The first was a delivery system that brought books directly to people’s homes. Our father, who delivered books with a smile, was a popular figure in the neighborhood. The second was our mother, a super saleswoman. She was amazing at selling art collections and dictionaries, achieving top sales in the country from a single store.

Although we, the brothers, did not end up taking over the store, we have continued to work in the book industry. I studied bookstore management at Suharaya Training School, worked in the sales department at Hoorindo Bookstore, and then spent 10 years in book PR at Kodansha before establishing QUESTO. My brother worked for a printing company for 23 years before joining QUESTO in 2021.

Unfortunately, Kuroda Bookstore closed with our father’s generation. However, we are now delivering books to many people in a different way than our parents did. We have a dream. It is to one day reopen Kuroda Bookstore. In that bookstore, we want to display only the books we have loved and promoted through our PR efforts.

The company name “QUESTO” is derived from “QUEST” (exploration) with an added “O.” This added “O” embodies three significant meanings.

1. O = Oxygen
   People cannot achieve anything alone. We hope that by adding our PR “passion to convey” (oxygen) to the “thoughts (flame)” of authors and editors, their books will spread to many people.
2. O = On
   We hope that the books we promote will “turn on” something in someone’s life.
3. +O = To
   We want to deliver the “thoughts” of authors and editors to people all over Japan and the world (To = towards).