Bibliophiles and curry lovers, take note. With around 200 bookstores and an abundance of curry restaurants, Jimbocho Book Town is the place to combine complementary passions for reading and eating curry.
Jimbocho Book Town - image © Florentyna Leow
A neighbourhood filled with bookstores sounds too good to be true. But that’s exactly what Jimbocho Book Town is. Within a 15-minute walking radius of Jimbocho Station, you’ll find around 200 bookstores crammed floor to ceiling with any kind of book you might be looking for, from cheap 100 yen novels to Edo period woodblock prints to vintage erotic magazines.
Jimbocho Book Town - image © Florentyna Leow
Jimbocho Book Town begins at around the intersection of Yasukuni-dori Street and Hakusan-dori Street. From there, wander down the main streets and off onto the side streets. Most are secondhand bookshops, but a few are newer chains. If you’re a collector, this is a great area to hunt down some antique maps or authentic woodblock prints from the Edo period.
Jimbocho Book Town - image © Florentyna Leow
Many bookstores stock English-language books too. The entire second floor of Kitazawa Shoten, for instance, has an impressive collection of secondhand academic English books on all kinds of subjects; it’s also worth visiting for its beautifully classical interior. Sanseido’s flagship store here also has a good collection of English books on the 5th floor.
Jimbocho Book Town - image © Florentyna Leow
After all that book shopping, relax at one of the many cafes in the area with your literary purchases, or fortify yourself with a bowl of curry. For more, check out our guide to the neighborhood.
English name:
Jimbocho Book Town
Japanese name:
神田古書店街
English address:
Kanda-jimbo-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo ,
Japanese address:
〒101-0051 東京都千代田区神田神保町
Opening hours:
Varies by shop
Admission:
free
Nearest Transport:
Subway: Jimbocho Station on the Toei Shinjuku and Mita lines, and Tokyo Metro Hanzomon line.
Nearest Hotels:
:: Check availability and pricing for hotels near Jimbocho Book Town on Booking.com or Agoda.com.
Telephone:
+81-3-3293-0161 (Kanda Old Book Store Association)
Website:
Official Website (Japanese)
Near To Here:
Jimbocho Book Town is located in Tokyo's Akihabara, Kanda And Jimbocho districts. See our complete list of things to do in Tokyo's Akihabara, Kanda And Jimbocho districts, including places to eat, nightlife and places to stay.
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