For The Love Of Books: Add This Tokyo Book Haven To Your Japan Trip Itinerary

It's that time of the year again when tourists make a beeline for Japan because it is the 'sakura' spotting (cherry blossom) season. The earliest 'sakura' forecasts are already out, and the Japan Meteorological Corporation has come out with spots for cherry blossom viewing in Tokyo and other cities. But more than the cherry blossoms, it is the charm of another variety that you could experience during your journey to Japan.

Jimbocho is known as Tokyo's quaint secondhand book district and is an absolute paradise for bibliophiles. If you have read the recent bestseller 'Days at the Morisaki Bookshop' that everyone seems to be talking about, you will love exploring Jimbocho.

The book, written by Satoshi Yagisawa and translated into English by Eric Ozawa, became a global favourite because of its romanticisation of reading and bookshops. The book was followed by the sequel, 'More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop.' In the first book, the protagonist, 25-year-old Takako, who's just been dumped by her boyfriend, heads to her uncle's home and bookshop in Jimbocho. And that's the beginning of a great love of books and bookshops. Reading the book brought back memories of my own visit to the book town of Jimbocho a few years back.

Jimbocho has nearly 200 shops, most of them selling secondhand or antiquarian titles. Manga, edgy posters, vintage CDs and DVDs all find their place here. The neighbourhood, once home to the Samurai, still retains its Edo-era charm. The intersection of Yasukuni dori and Hakusan dori is at the centre of Jimbocho and if you start walking randomly from here, you will begin to spot the bookstores. 

A Tale of Survival

At the Isseido Bookstore (Isseido Booksellers), I was surprised to see Indian titles. I spot multiple volumes of 'The Encyclopaedia of Indian Mysticism' by Sadhu Santideva. The store has plenty of books on world religions and philosophy. From the Isseido Booksellers' website, I learned that the shop had its origins in 1903 in Nagaoka (Niigata Prefecture) and then was shifted to Kanda (the book district is also known as Kanda-Jimbocho). The bookstore survived the great fire of 1913, which reportedly burned down 4,000 homes, around when it was named Isseido. The bookstore has also survived the great Kanto earthquake of 1923 when the fires triggered by the earthquake raged for 46 hours, destroying over 40 per cent of Tokyo.

A decade later, another setback came in the form of World War II (1939-1945). After the war, enthusiasm for books went up, and people began to reacquaint themselves with the world of literature and reading, Isseido's owner, Takehiko Sakai, says on the store's website. He also writes that reputable families such as Mitsui and Yasuda (known as 'zaibatsu' or family monopolies) sold their collections post WWII, enhancing the bookstores' stocks. 

Three minutes from the Jimbocho station is the Kitazawa building, home to the popular Kitazawa bookstore, established as far back as 1902. The store stocks rare books and focuses largely on secondhand books in the English language. On my visit, I spotted the book, 'Masterpieces of Chikamatsu: The Japanese Shakespeare.' The 17th-century playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon has written nearly 100 plays that were adapted for 'bunraku', Japanese puppet theatre.

More Bookstores

The beautiful font of Subun-so Book Shop gleamed in the October sun, and I was drawn to the store that stocks rare and old Western books. Walking around, I also spotted the Yaguchi Bookstore (established 1918), an open-air store, as they call themselves. Then there's the Daiundo Bookstore, whose origin goes back to 1893. They stock dictionaries, encyclopaedias, old maps, documents, science, art and architecture-related books, among others.

One of the big stores is Books Sanseido, founded in 1881, with branches across the city. The store is fancier and shinier than others. There, I saw Indian writer Vasudev Murthy's 'Sherlock Holmes in Japan.' Apart from these stores, there are hole-in-the-wall shops, but as you walk along, you will notice several books that are for 2-for-100 yen or 1-for-100 yen.

After my trip, I looked up all the stores online and realised how the bookstores of Jimbocho are windows to the socio-cultural and political landscape of Japan over the centuries. The past casts its long shadow on present-day Jimbocho. Much like the ephemeral yet unforgettable beauty of 'sakura' blossoms, a day in Jimbocho may have been fleeting yet evergreen.

How to Reach Jimbocho

Take the Tokyo Metro on the Hanzomon Line, Toei Metro Shinjuku Line or Toei Metro Mita Line and alight at the Jimbocho station, from where the bookstores are just a few minutes away. You can also take the JR Chuo Line from Shinjuku Station to Kanda Station. 

(Savitha Karthik is an independent journalist and content writer based out of Bengaluru)