Job Discussion Forums

Black_Beer_Man · Joined: 26 Mar 2013 Posts: 453 Location: Yokohama

I know that Book Off in Machida has a fair number of books in English in the back of their 2nd floor.

What stores do you recommend?

Cheers.

mitsui · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 1562 Location: Kawasaki

You have asked before.
Good Day Books which I think is in Gotanda.
I remember when it was in Ebisu.

Kinokuniya in Shinjuku.

Blue Parrot in Takadanobaba closed, I read.

Otherwise go to Kanda and Jimbocho and walk around. Some bookstores with mostly Japanese titles have English books too.

There is Maruzen, with many stores in Japan.
Junkudo is another chain.

Amazon Japan, too.

natsume · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 409 Location: Chongqing, China

Book Off

Shimokitazawa · Joined: 16 Aug 2009 Posts: 458 Location: Saigon, Vietnam

Jimbochi used to have a bookshop run by an Australian guy called Bondi Books. It may have closed, though, because the last time I was down there I couldn't find it. He had a lot of interesting books, so you might want to check it out if you can find it.

Black_Beer_Man · Joined: 26 Mar 2013 Posts: 453 Location: Yokohama

Wow! I am disappointed with the low number of answers to this question. Half of the suggestions in this thread are shops that sell NEW books. My question is about used booksellers.

I guess aside from Book Off, there aren't many places.

As for Book Off, this chain has some superstores called Book Off Bazaar. These are the stores to go to to have any hope of finding used English books. That said, even these stores can be disappointing.

The Book Off Bazaar in Machida is good, but the one at the next station, Kobuchi, was a huge disappointment for me. One of their sales staff told me that they did not have any English books.

I guess most foreigners give away their books to friends, get rid of them on Craig's List or dump them into recycling.

mitsui · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 1562 Location: Kawasaki

Go to Shirokane near Meguro.
40,000 used English books at Book Off.

kah5217 · Joined: 29 Sep 2012 Posts: 270 Location: Ibaraki

Book Off Shibuya, second floor. Nice amount of English books, even a few manga.

Shimokitazawa · Joined: 16 Aug 2009 Posts: 458 Location: Saigon, Vietnam

Nice thread.

But to people still want paper books? I use a Google Nexus 10 or 7 and all of my books now are mainly epub, mobi or PDF or audiobook format.

I've either given away all of my paper books or thrown them away after replacing them with an ebook format.

teacheratlarge · Joined: 17 Nov 2011 Posts: 192 Location: Japan

It has gotten harder to buy used English books. The Takadankbaba branch of Bookoff recently added more English titles, many of them at 108 Yen each!

There is also Infinity Books, an online supplier with books stored in Saitama somewhere, which has a fairly good selection with a decent search function. Prices vary though, but there are some bargins, and certainly their prices are lower than buying new books.