Abstract
This paper is to clarify the transformation process of book-reading practices in Meiji Era Japan, by focusing on a popular magazine at the time, "SEIKO (The Success), " whlch contained diverse articles written by the contemporary literati, and told people how to read books well. Close examination of the magazine proves that (1) silent reading was, far from being merely the adaptation to the governmental policy or the innovation of printing technology, established only after many twists and turns; (2) the silent reading transformation reflected some drastic changes in the Japan ethos as a whole: i.e. individualization, privatization and atomization.
