Japanese anyone?


I have to say it was fabulous visiting Kinokinuya! This book store is beautiful. Totally immaculate, well organized and very peaceful. The craft section is on the lower level which is where I spent most of my time. All the books in the craft section were just amazing. I browsed through many and could not believe the amazing things that one can learn to make. You could learn how to make the most amazing fake food, knitted garments and toys, handbags, underwear and even shoes!

I really wanted to take photos of the inside of the store but didn't want to get in trouble so I refrained. I only managed to take a couple of pics outside. It's not easy taking pics on the streets in NYC. There are so many people whizzing by you all the time it's almost impossible to get a clear shot of anything.

All in all, our Kinokinuya experience rates a 10/10. My only negative would be that there were no chairs to sit on in the store but I improvised by sitting on the floor. I'm thinking they frown upon people reading the books before purchasing maybe? I would absolutely do it again but first I must either learn to read Japanese or find myself a translator!!

Here are a few pics but I will take more of the inside pages of the books soon.

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chamekke said…
Hi,

I can't read Japanese beyond a handful of characters, but I can provide the Amazon Japan page for this book, with Google translation into (rough) English:

http://tinyurl.com/4sks6q

By the way, if you want to search on Amazon Japan for other soap-related books, the katakana characters for "soap" are:

ソープ

(Hope you can see these characters all right!)
April 30, 2008 at 1:55 AM
chamekke said…
P.S. Actually, I think it's a translation of this book (on Amazon U.S.) by Tatyana Hill:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0754801810

And I just realized that this may not be THE most welcome news, when you were thinking that these were special Japanese recipes :-(

Still, if you spot any that look really delicious, maybe you can check out the English-language original for the details. Might be easier than hunting for a personal translator!
April 30, 2008 at 1:59 AM
Morgan Street said…
Hey Chamekke - Thank you so much! What a great help you are. Yeah, I suppose it could be a bit of a bummer, but I'm still glad I got them. You know what's funny - I may have another book here by that same author already - LOL.

I'm off to Amazon Japan now..... :)
April 30, 2008 at 6:23 PM
Anonymous said…
Looks like you might find some great inspiration from them, even with the Japanese text... sometimes the pictures alone, speak a thousand words.
;)
♥
Janell
May 1, 2008 at 5:19 PM
ttishbite said…
Hiya MorganStreet! Just a comment.. when I was in Japan, I was staying at in a college dorm for a few days. I didn't have much to do while my roomies were in class so I'd grab a book and read while I waited for them outside their hall under a tree. Until one day.. my roomie told me that people in Japan do not just sit outside and read! And that I looked like a crazy person. I was pretty schooled. I already looked out of place (5'6" with big curly hair) and then I committed a social no-no. Who knew?
May 2, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Morgan Street said…
ttishbite - that's very interesting! Thanx for sharing. This is why I think it's important for us to travel or at least take the time to understand cultures outside of our own. What' well mannered for 1 could be obnoxiously rude to another!

Now - I wonder if I offended anyone when I sat on the floor of that store. YIKES!!
May 2, 2008 at 9:52 PM
XUE said…
in most bookshops here ( tokyo), you are not allowed to sit down to browse - which is a shame! Yes, Kinokinuya is pretty awesome.
May 5, 2008 at 1:34 PM
Morgan Street said…
Hi Xue - thanks for telling me. Now I feel so bad!!

At least I'll know for next time. It makes it tough though since there are so many great books you can't help but browse through them - not necessarily to read and not buy but more to make sure you get the books that will benefit you the most.

I still love that store and will definately be going back (hopefully several more times :)
May 5, 2008 at 5:12 PM
chamekke said…
MorganStreet, I really don't think you have to worry about it. Kinokuniya has stores all along the western seaboard of the US, and I'm sure they see plenty of other customers who sit on the floor. (That would include second- and third-generation Japanese-Americans, as well as non-Japanese customers like you and me.)

They also have stores in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia, where I'll bet the local customers do equally interesting things.

Something this small is NOT going to shock 'em.

chamekke

P.S. Here are the links for their e-commerce site, which I just discovered - yay!:

http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/indexohb.cgi?AREA=02 (West Coast)

http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/indexohb.cgi?AREA=03 (New York)
May 8, 2008 at 1:45 AM
New Found Lust said…
I really love Japanese text, it's so beautiful to look at!

A few years ago I started learning Japanese only because I wanted to be able to read those wonderful books!
May 11, 2008 at 6:32 PM
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