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Where's the BEST place to buy Japanese books?


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Josh7289



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 1252
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:55 pm Reply with quote
For manga, art books, novels, and just about any Japanese printed material in general, which online store is the absolute best to buy from, for shipping to the US? (and if that store is only available in Japanese -- no English option -- please recommend it nonetheless)

So, which one(s) have you had the best experiences with? Which have you had poor experiences with, and should therefore be avoided?


And feel free to talk about anything, including customer service, total price including shipping, shipping speed and delivery time, packaging quality, etc.
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Agoston



Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 225
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:47 pm Reply with quote
Kinokuniya is a pretty good place to get them. http://www.kinokuniya.com/

Don't know too many details, you can check it out for yourself.
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:56 pm Reply with quote
Kinokuniya would be one, you could also try J-List, although a lot of their stuff that they sell are explicit, so don't access it at work.
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Aromatic Grass



Joined: 31 Dec 2003
Posts: 2424
Location: Raleigh, NC
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:39 pm Reply with quote
Haven't used Kinokuniya, but my favorite place is http://www.sasugabooks.com/ which I've been using for about four years now. They have a lot of great stuff – admittedly not everything – and are pretty efficient. They have really good customer service, too.
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Kenshin_Himura93



Joined: 24 Jul 2008
Posts: 45
PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 7:36 pm Reply with quote
I am surprised that no one has said Japan yet. Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

But i would probably check out Ebay or Amazon.com
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:46 pm Reply with quote
Kenshin_Himura93 wrote:
I am surprised that no one has said Japan yet. Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

Uhh, yeah. Let's just take a fourteen hour 1000 dollar flight to Japan just to buy some books. Nice one there Rolling Eyes
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cool3865



Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 770
Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:24 pm Reply with quote
yea but the experience would be worth it, im sure their bookstores rock compared to ours
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Kenshin_Himura93



Joined: 24 Jul 2008
Posts: 45
PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:40 pm Reply with quote
fighterholic wrote:
Kenshin_Himura93 wrote:
I am surprised that no one has said Japan yet. Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

Uhh, yeah. Let's just take a fourteen hour 1000 dollar flight to Japan just to buy some books. Nice one there Rolling Eyes


Chill out dude, it was just a joke. Besides, who says we're not already in Japan for something else????? Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:50 am Reply with quote
Kenshin_Himura93 wrote:
Chill out dude, it was just a joke. Besides, who says we're not already in Japan for something else????? Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes

Hmm, I think that was one of my down days when I posted that last one. I don't remember even posting that one.
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Arakis
Subscriber



Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 33
Location: Amish Country, USA
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:27 am Reply with quote
I second the recommendations of Kinokuniya and Sasuga, the latter of which I order from regularly. But don't forget about Book Off. The ones I visited in the Tokyo area were an otaku delight, especially if you don't mind buying used because prices on their used manga and games were very reasonable. There's at least one Book Off in the US, in Manhattan. There may be others, but I've never seen or heard of them.
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daxomni



Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 2650
Location: Somewhere else.
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:47 am Reply with quote
fighterholic wrote:
Kinokuniya would be one, you could also try J-List, although a lot of their stuff that they sell are explicit, so don't access it at work.

There are two versions, one of which is safe for work. It asks you when you first visit which version to load. At my last job the explicit version was blocked but the safe version was still accessible.

Kenshin_Himura93 wrote:
I am surprised that no one has said Japan yet.

I honestly wish we had a whole section devoted to trip reports in Japan.

fighterholic wrote:
Hmm, I think that was one of my down days when I posted that last one. I don't remember even posting that one.

Maybe just say you're sorry for being snarky?

cool3865 wrote:
yea but the experience would be worth it, im sure their bookstores rock compared to ours

I found them to be virtually identical to any random book store in America or Europe. If you're into manga you get a much larger selection and it's even cheap in some cases, but if you're not a huge manga fan or you don't understand Japanese then it's kind of pointless. So, in my case it didn't really help me much to visit them, except as a place to chill while I was waiting on a train or waiting while my friend bought some tiny little pastry or cake in the bakery next door. Tiny Japanese pastries are so cool and so delicious. Wow, I wish I was there right now. But ticket prices today are way more than I like paying and I don't think I have enough miles for a free trip banked. Otherwise I might make a run just for the kick-ass food and for the change of scenery and for a drink at the NYB.
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RedHotFunk



Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 67
Location: Ontario
PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:09 am Reply with quote
Try AnimeWild.com; it's a good site for manga; great deals on a lot of titles and if you're living in the states, it's free shipping after a certain price (alas, I am in Ontario and must suffer the outrageous shipping fees Sad or take it slow but pay less with USPS)
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asura_wings



Joined: 29 Jun 2008
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 1:25 pm Reply with quote
why not try jpqueen.com
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Kunisaki Shugo



Joined: 28 Sep 2008
Posts: 24
PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:22 pm Reply with quote
Well, for me, I would choose Kinokuniya since it is the best in NYC. If not, go to the Forbidden Planet, they have a great stock of western and manga stuff and dolls and such. Not the cute ones. But Kinokuniya is the best pick since it has events every month. You should visit there if you come/live in NYC.
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hexenkessel



Joined: 22 Oct 2008
Posts: 24
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:12 pm Reply with quote
Sasuga is good, theyre the site i order from. the only complaint i have with them though is that they only sell a few of their manga magazines individually, for most you have to get a subscription (either 6 or 12 mo.) for a few hundred dollars.
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