Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Stand and Browse


One of my favorite bookstores is Book1st inside the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower.

They not only have a wide variety of books I can actually read (i.e. english books), but as the bookstore is located inside a school building of a designer school, they have a lot of art and design related books and magazines you wouldn't find in a regular bookstore. I especially love their photography book corner, which is usually where you'll find me when I need to kill time in Shinjuku.

I spotted this cute book called "Tokyo On Foot" the other day. It is a book filled with various tidbits about Tokyo, seen through the eyes of a French man and his drawings. Very interesting and lovely to look at...the colorful pages sort of reminded me of Evelyn and her drawings!

13 comments:

  1. I like any city on foot and Tokyo would be an amazing surprise...

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  2. I love the lines and texture of your bookstore image! Very modern and unconventional and I can barely detect your shadow. I would call it "The Reader." It has a hint of mystery and menace to it. Sorta reminds me of the movie Vanishing on 7th Street. - I do like those drawings. I am a sucker for picture/travel books!

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  3. Nothing nicer than spending time in a book store perusing Kaori, unfortunately a lot of our book shops are closing down.

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  4. I could spend many hours there!

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  5. in the 1st i like the particular angle where the pic was taken

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  6. A place I'd like to be locked in.

    Please have a good Thursday.

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  7. I love any photo of any books! How does this store compare to Kinokuniya? The latter is probably bigger, but it's a bit of a schlep to get there, isn't it? You've just persuaded me to try Book1st ...

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  8. It’s funny but I placed that same book on my Amazon Shopping List on September 5th. Now, thanks to your recommendation, I have ordered a copy.

    Maybe (just maybe...) you will have a book of photos for sale... 頑張って。Please let us know when...

    I thought it sounded familiar. Lumine 1, not far from here around the corner of the South Exit, has another Book First on the 5th floor. Actually, I see there is a Book First on the 5th floor of both Lumine 1 and Lumine 2 in Shinjuku Station but you would have little need to visit them unless a book you want at Modo Gakuen is out of stock but available at Lumine.

    Their Web site has a few shots of your store. The entrance looks so cool (maybe here). (Clickable photos but maybe they alternate stores). I could find the entrance separate, just in case. A bit out of this world. Love it.

    Speaking of cool: Evelyn’s drawings are. That’s a nice origami crane, by the way!

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  9. Lots of books , not many people , except you ;)

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  10. Hi everyone! Thanks for taking the time to comment! It's great to hear so many of you like books stores as much as I do :D

    VP -- I'm sure you'd take amazing photos with one of your walk around Tokyo, too :D

    Rachel -- Oh me, too! I love travel books, even if I've never been there yet ;D

    Perth DP -- Isn't it a shame? I really wish there was something we could do about it. I love independent book shops :-D

    Lois -- I could, too. Actually I do! ;D

    Milanblogger -- Thank you! I had a fun time taking pictures while browsing through the aisles! ;-)

    Robert -- Oh, I wouldn't mind at all either! They usually end up kicking me out :D

    Rurousha -- Kinokuniya on the east side is much bigger. But the selection here is a little different, as Book1st has more artsy books for the students there. I also like the way their book shelves are scattered around the floor area. Hope you'll get a chance to go :-D

    Tall Gary -- Hope you like it! I loved the drawings ;D

    Babzy -- I shoo-ed them away to take this photo! hehe ;D

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  11. Count me in... for both the book story and the walk! And yes, Evie could create a series of e-books... and make a fortune... Are you listening, Evelyn?? :-)

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  12. Haha, thanks Francisca. Kaori, thanks for remembering me. Yeah, now that I see the cover, I do remember seeing this book...

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  13. Received the book today a little over a week after this posting. It is now my favorite Tokyo tourist/memento book. I laughed a bunch of times at his sense of humor.

    Did you know that those nearly identical houses on the cover were sketched in Ochiai, near Kōtokuji Temple? The writer/artist lived in Ochiai for most of his half-year in Tokyo—just south of Ochiai Chuo Park. He wasn’t kidding when he said he lived on a micro street.

    Thank you for the recommendation.

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Thank you so much! Love it when you comment! xx