Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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to 8pm; closed some Wednesdays. Takashimaya Annex, Takashimaya Times Sq. complex.
& 03/5361-3301. Station: Shinjuku (south exit, 2 min.).
Kitazawa On the second floor of Book House, Kitazawa, open since 1902, offers
second-hand foreign books, including rare editions, antiquarian books (reservations
needed to peruse the antique editions), and a big section on Japan. If you're looking for
an out-of-print book, this is your best bet. Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday
11am to 6:30pm, and Saturday, Sunday and holidays from noon to 5:30pm. 2-5 Jimbo-
cho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. & 03/3263-0011. Station: Jimbocho (1A exit and turn right, 1 min.). On
Yasukuni Dori.
Maruzen This is Japan's oldest bookstore, founded in 1869 but now ensconced in the
modern Oazo Building across from Tokyo Station's Marunouchi exit. Its English-lan-
guage section, on the fourth floor, is huge and well laid out, with everything from dic-
tionaries to travel guides to special-interest books on Japan. It also carries books on
science, politics, and history, as well as magazines and paperbacks. If you're searching for
a specific title, you'll probably want to come here first. Open daily 9am to 9pm. 1-6-4
Marunouchi. & 03/5288-8881. Station: Tokyo (1 min.). Take the Marunouchi exit from Tokyo Sta-
tion and turn right (north); it's across the street.
Ohya Shobo Established in 1882, this delightfully cramped shop in Kanda doesn't
have any English-language books, but it does claim to have the world's largest stock of
18th- and 19th-century Japanese illustrated books, woodblock prints, and maps, includ-
ing maps from the Edo Period. Open Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm; closed some
holidays. 1-1 Jimbocho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. & 03/3291-0062. Station: Jimbocho (A7 exit, 3
min.). Turn right (east) onto Yasukuni Dori; it will be on your right, one of the last bookstores.
Tower Records and Books My friends in Tokyo don't shop anywhere else for their
books and magazines, as prices are usually lower here than elsewhere. The seventh floor
is devoted to imported publications, with a good selection of English-language books,
more than 3,000 different kinds of magazines, and—available via computer printout for
a fee—more than 300 newspapers from around the world. Open daily 10am to 11pm.
1-22-14 Jinnan. & 03/3496-3661. Station: Shibuya (Hachiko exit, 5 min.).
DEPARTMENT STORES
Japanese department stores are institutions in themselves. Usually enormous, well-
designed, and chock-full of merchandise, they have about everything you can imagine,
including museums and art galleries, pet stores, rooftop playgrounds or greenhouses,
travel agencies, restaurants, grocery markets, and flower shops. You could easily spend a
whole day in a department store—eating, attending cultural exhibitions, planning your
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Department Store Hours
Japanese department stores are generally open from 10 or 10:30am to 8 or 9pm.
They used to close 1 day a week, but now they rarely close, or they close irregu-
larly, though always on the same day of the week (say, on Tues) in no apparent
pattern (one month they may be closed the second Tues of the month, but the
next month the first or not at all). In any case, you can always find stores that are
open, even on Sundays and holidays (major shopping days in Japan).
 
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