The availability of English-language books, magazines, and other publications is fairly significant with a number of stores that cater to readers interested in a variety of genres.
The Aoyama Book Center has a number of outlets across the city, including two in Roppongi. While “ABC” focuses much of its attention on art books of sorts (graphic design, computer graphics, interior design, architecture, etc.), the store also offers English-language books and magazines covering a variety of other genres. Many of ABC’s stores include books on Japan, Japanese-language study materials, and the latest bestsellers from the U.S. and Europe. The ABC bookstore in Roppongi (Roppongi Denki Bldg. 1F, 6-1-20 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo), also offers a variety of used English-language books across a number of genres (although many of the books are out of print or are older print versions).
Good Day Books (http://www.gooddaybooks.com/) located in Ebisu (3F Asahi Building, 1-11-2 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo) also carries a selection of used English-language books.
Books Kinokuniya (http://www.kinokuniya.co.jp/) is the bookstore brand for the Kinokuniya Group, with over 60 stores across Japan and countless others operating around the world in Australia, Singapore, the U.S, and elsewhere. Books Kinokuniya carries an enormous variety of books in English, French, German, Italian, and other languages, and is also famous for its large selection of anime (Japanese comic books which have gained recently gained great interest around the world).
Maruzen (http://www.maruzen.co.jp/top/index.html), like Books Kinokuniya, is a large chain of bookstores (totaling nearly 50 across Japan) that caters to both domestic and foreign readers. In fact, Maruzen’s Marunouchi store (Oazo Building, 1-6-4 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), has been billed by some as the best foreign-language bookstore in Japan. The fourth floor of the Marunouchi branch is almost entirely dedicated to novels, biographies, textbooks, and bestsellers, along with hundreds of magazines in English and other foreign languages.
Tower Records (http://www.towerrecords.co.jp/) is largely a music retail outlet, but also publishes free Japanese magazines such as Tower, Bounce and Intoxicate as well. The seventh floor of Tower’s Shibuya store (Tower Records, 1-22-14 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo) offers a more than adequate selection of books, and hundreds of magazines and newspapers from around the world. Tower is one of the few major bookstores in Japan that cannot order books, but their stock of books and publications is generally broad enough to satisfy most needs.
For those interested in shopping from home, many shop with Amazon’s site in Japan (http://www.amazon.co.jp), which now provides for browsing and purchasing in either English or Japanese. For new releases that Amazon Japan has yet to stock, Amazon sites from around the world will also ship directly to Japan, and can do so expeditiously with express international shipping charges.
