Bookish East Asian Languages and Cultures majors should hop the 1-train to Kinokuniya Bookstore to get their academic dose of city culture. The moment students see the windows with kanji and hiragana writing everywhere, they feel like they are in Japan. Kinokuniya, located on 6th Avenue between 40th and 41st streets, is the lone New York outpost of Japan’s Borders.
Like every good chain bookstore, it has a large magazine section, but Kinokuniya’s is full of Japanese magazines. There are even more shelves filled with books, half of which are in Japanese and half of which are in English. The English section boasts Tattoos, Gardening/Ikebana, Buddhism, Japanese Culture and Society, Martial Arts/Health, and Literature magazines. The shelves at the front of the store are filled with toys and other kawaii (cute) Japanese products, and towards the back is a small section with anime T-shirts and apparel. Also for sale are Japanese cosplay and gothic Lolita outfits, making Kinokuniya clearly not your typical bookstore.
Upstairs, the store has a wall with an impressive mural of the manga “Vagabond,” and on the same floor Cafe Zaiya sells Bento lunchboxes and rice balls. There are whole sections of shojo (girls) and shonen (boys) manga, and even a small section about vampires. There is also an entire display case showcasing the North American release of Hayao Miyazaki’s film “Ponyo,” where students will find the Ponyo-dolls especially hard to resist buying—they are just too cute.
All employees speak at least some Japanese and most of them are fluent. Chris Fuentes from New Jersey learned Japanese on his own, “I’m not fluent, but I can get by if someone asks me where the bathroom is or where a certain book can be found.” He finds the merchandise irresistible, and admitted, “We end up spending a lot of our paycheck here.”
Unsurprisingly, such an eclectic store attracts a mixed crowd. Many frequenters are Japanese tourists and Japanese-American citizens, alongside New York City otaku (anime fans). Debbie Zhan of Brooklyn said, “I love Japanese stuff and this store has everything. It’s cheaper than buying it online because you don’t have to pay shipping and handling.”
Kinokuniya also organizes many Japanese culture events and exhibitions, such as a Japanese Young Artist’s Prints exhibit that is open from Oct. 9-18, and an Akira Tokuda exhibition that is featured from Oct. 1-25. On Oct. 18, the store has a special Tezuka Day to celebrate the father of Osamu Tezuka, the creator of Astro Boy.
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