Kinokunia NYC: A Little Slice of Japan in New York City

If you’re in New York City and are looking for anything from Japan that isn't food you need to check out Kinokunia. Even if you aren’t interested in Japan they have an amazing selection of books in english.

Downstairs in the basement is the area in Japanese. They have an amazing magazine selection which makes me happy because I love Japanese magazines. They’re kinda pricey but you can flip through them pretty easily without buying.

They also have a huge amount of Japanese stationary which made me so happy! I personally love these clear folders, they’re like a dollar and are amazing! I recommend you going here if you love stationary. They have incredible stickers, pens, highlighters and washi tape.

They also have a lot of books in Japanese for native speakers or if you want to improve your reading. There are also language books like Genki in this section as well if you want to teach yourself Japanese. They have books translated from different languages into Japanese as well as books originally in Japanese. In the middle of this floor is a children’s area with kids books in Japanese.

My fiancé is Japanese so this was nice to see. He can buy books and magazines here easily in Japanese and in the future when we have kids we’ll be able to go here.

The first floor is where books are in english. Its like a typical book store but there is a large section that is specifically books on Japan. Travel books and tips on culture and travel, history, gender, and any topic you can imagine. I was looking at this book below on gender and feminism in Japanese history. They also had an interesting book on the impact women played in Japans religious history.

Finally they have a great selection of books by Japanese authors that have been translated into english. A good example is Haruki Murakami and much more. I found a lot of books I read in college like the tale of genji here too.