If there is a heaven for book lovers, it must look like the Jimbocho district in Tokyo. My book fetish has no bounds or reason, and I don’t even need to own the damn things, but I do love hanging out at bookstores. Even foreign bookstores where I don’t know or can’t read the language. And if you make that into a used bookstore, someone else’s once treasured books, and now the history is laid out before me. I feel so happy. I read that there are 200 bookstores in this area. Most bookstores are exceptionally curated by subject matter and even eras when these books were published. There is also a sizable amount of stores that sell old magazines, including old copies of American publications of Life, Look, and every issue of Vogue. A fashion historian would cry for joy in finding so many magazines from various past eras. And bookstores are focusing on Rock n’ Roll magazines, both in English and Japanese. I even found a publication from my teenage years, Eye, a pictorial publication of 60s rock lifestyles seen through the pop media. It is good to know that even today, in the age of online reading, real printed publications are still popular, and newsstands are still an active and fun place to visit here in Japan.
The one thing I noticed on this current trip to Jimbocho is that there are more cafes attached to bookstores and some cafes that use books as their primary motive for being there in business. A lot of these coffee places are high-end but not overly expensive, just a lifestyle existence between books and coffee. There is even a hotel devoted to book lovers called Book Hotel. One can rent and stay in a Manga Art Room, also known as the black cave. It has a love hotel vibe, but instead of sex, the passion is for reading and books. For a book lover, it is the same sensation. I entered the lobby, and the girls behind the counter talked to an English-speaking customer. The one thing I notice in hotels is that all workers use a phone app to translate English into Japanese. They can either read it off their phone or have an AI voice translate the text or question for them. It reminds me that Japan is so much easier now than it was thirty years ago. A visitor was truly on their own, but now, due to technology, communication is more manageable, although not good enough to have an in-depth chat about Wittgenstein between the two languages.
Japan has always had a visual culture, and I think of them as telling a narrative through pictures and with some text. It is a strong art form, of course, known as Manga. Jimbocho is full of manga shops, mostly vintage and, of course, retro. Some are very expensive, and a lot are affordable. There are even American comic books from the golden era of Marvel and DC. As mentioned, I’m attracted to images from the Showa era in Japan, and walking down the streets of Jimbocho, you are confronted with beautiful books from and about that era. There are many graphic art books, including foreign art publications and catalogs. Some of the stores are highly sophisticated in their curating, such as Culver City’s Arcana Books. You can probably find any book on any artist if you look hard enough and have the patience to go through many bookshelves. And for a book lover, that is like making love to the most romantic figure from your imagination or, if fortunate, in real life.
The other new thing I noticed, at least for me, is that they have book stalls on the street. I don’t remember seeing this in the past, and I’m not sure if it is for economic reasons or something left over from COVID-19 times, but it is fantastic to walk by these treasures. The photo above is a shelf of Charles Baudelaire titles, including a biography of the great man. I tried to figure out what to buy as a gift for my wife but wasn’t sure what I was buying. The price wasn’t expensive, but I also considered the luggage. I have a deep fear/disgust for luggage. The only time I’m happy is when the luggage is picked up at the airport, and at that moment, I’m feeling free without that access package on my shoulder. But then, throughout the flight, I’m dreading the moment when I have to pick up the luggage from the baggage area. As you can see, I wouldn't say I like certain things about traveling. Nevertheless, the Baudelaire problem was solved because Lun*na, my wife, already has a Japanese translation of Flowers of Evil back at home in Los Angeles.
The oldest bookstore in Jimbocho is Kitazawa, which opened in 1902 and is still in business. A two-story structure once, now, is on the second story and selling used foreign books. The selection is pretty good, with lots of vintage Penguin paperbacks and a decent amount of books by Jack Kerouac. It is interesting to note when you go to a foreign bookstore how much Beat literature they have in stock. The bookstore is well curated, and there are many and now out-of-print books on Japan, but very little or no literature/books by Dazai or Mishima or any other writer of that period. I think that no one gives up their books by these authors, including yours truly; I refuse to give them up to anyone. But all bookstores that sell English new books have a substantial selection of Japanese literature on their shelves.
For me and other book lovers, Jimbocho is the perfect location not only to buy books but to dwell in the world of literature of all sorts. There is also porn and shops devoted to cinema culture as well. Do go and explore!
Yes! Books books and more books. I am surrounded by them as I write this. Thanks for sharing you bibliomaniac tendencies.