My Japanese mom-in-law still has a set of encyclopedias from the early 80s when my wife was in school. I've caught my daughter leafing through them a few times. I feel like the encyclopedia may not be as dead in Japan as it is in the West; this article has almost convinced me to through down the money to get the 2023 World Book... https://arstechnica.com/culture/2023/06/rejoice-its-2023-and-you-can-still-buy-a-22-volume-paper-encyclopedia/