Obara becomes pensive when this subject comes up. He reflects that that was a time for Kinokuniya to rethink itself. At the time, Keijiro Mori, general manager of the Singapore branch, advised him: "A bookstore has to have a position of its own, and you have to work with what you've got."
小原在採訪中若有所思地指出，這對於紀伊國屋來說，是很好的自省機會，他記得當時新加坡總店的總經理森啟次郎曾殷殷提醒：「書店一定要有自己的定位，而且要從自己最拿手的部分先做起。」