A few months ago I went to Kinokuniya Bookstore at Rockefellar Center, to purchase some manga and also to check out that fancy Kurutoga pencil that Jeff mentioned. I walked up 49th Street and when I hit 5th Avenue I realized I passed it. I walked back. Waitaminute, WHERE IS KINOKUNIYA? It was gone, no sign, nothing. I found out later it moved to a new location in October, how dare they!
Well, all is forgiven because when I visited the new store in March it was amazing. Three full floors all shiny and brand new. Notable additions are the in-store cafe, Zaiya and a cool painted mural by "Slam Dunk" and "Vagabond" manga artist Takehiko Inoue.
For those unfamiliar with the bookstore, it not only sells Japanese books but has a good selection of English language books (mostly concerning Japanese culture of course). They also have various sundries from Japan such as toys, office and art supplies, cds, dvd, shirts, housewares, etc. Of course, in the end, it's all about the manga.
Kinokuniya Bookstore
1073 Avenue of Americas
New York, NY 10018
Between 40th and 41st Street across from Bryant Park
Tel 212-869-1700
Closest trains are BDFV
map
Note: When I tried to return the Kurutoga pencil, Kinokuniya said that they do not do refunds only exchanges and only for items from the same department. So I couldn't exchange the pencil for a book but maybe a pen? It's a very Japanese policy but dangit this is America!
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