Finding English Books in Jimbocho

Jimbocho is popularly known as the book town of Tokyo - home to a number of book stores selling new and used books as well as several publishing houses that are decades old. This area is found at the crossind of Yasukuni Dori and Hakusan Dori. The name Jimbocho was taken after a samurai named, Nagaharu Jinbo, who lived in the 17th century.

In 1913, there was a large fire that swept through the area, destroying most of the old establishments in the area. It was after the fire that university professor, Shigeo Iwanami, decided to open a book shop in the area, which started the sprouting of other shops around. This book shop eventually evolved to what is presently known as the Iwanami Shoten Publishing House.

Books on sale on the street.

Among the many book shops in Jimbocho, there are very few bookstores that sell foreign language books, specifically, English books. There are other shops that sells books in other languages like French and German. Some of these bookstores are the following:

Tokyodo Bookstore. Conveniently located in the same building with a coffee shop, this books is perfect for people who want to buy books, read and drink coffee. The selection of English books in this store is very few. It only allots  one shelf to art books and illustrated books in the second floor of the building.

Paper Back Cafe and Tokyodo Bookstore

Bondi Books. Sources online refer to this bookstore as bondi books however, different kanji characters are written on its label. This place is a specialty store for book collectors because it offers vintage books that amount to as high Y237,000 for a collection of John Milton's books. There are also a couple of books by Edgar Allan Poe worth Y108,000 and Katherine Mansfield worht Y86,000.

Kitazawa. This bookshop is on the second floor of this building. While the first floor is a cozy children's book shop with red couches and large stuff toys, the second floor is but a row of old shelves filled with old books. The selection of books ranges from classics like William Wordsworth and DH Lawrence to highly academic books on Literary Criticism and philosophical thoughts.

 

Other stores that might stir some interest is this bookstore that offers a set of old mangas for a very affordable price. Some old series are only worth Y3,000 for 6 mangas.

 

This next shop is very interesting because it sells very old magazines. The selection is also very good because it ranges from Japanese rock magazines featuring X Japan to foreign acts like Beatles and David Bowie.

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If you have time to kill, Jimbocho is an interesting place to visit. You can just go around and be amazed at the variety of books that these bookstores offer. However, if you have limited time in Tokyo or you have no plans of buying Japanese books, then this is place should not be a priority on your list. What I find more interesting in the area is the great selection of cafes that you can visit. If you're not a bookworm or into bookshopping, then cafe hopping might be a better option for you.

See these posts:
Cafes in Jimbocho
Jazz Bar in Jimbocho: Big Boy

Places to Visit in Tokyo: Gundam Cafe in Akihabara

If you're a fan of the Gundam franchise, then this cafe is a must visit. But even if you're not, it is still worth seeing what a themed cafe in japan looks like.

Coffe art

there's a large screen playing the opening and ending themes of different gundam series

Tokorozawa Aviation Museum

Tokorozawa Aviation Museum is one of the must-see places in Tokorozawa City. It only takes a 8-minute walk from Seibu Shinjuku Line's Koku-Koen station to reach this place. It only takes around 40 minutes to reach this place from Shinjuku. It is right beside the public library and across the municipal hall. It is open from Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:30am to 5:00pm.

This museum has something to offer for both plane enthusiasts and those who are still exploring about planes. I myself am not a big fan of planes before I went to this museum but I was surprised with how much I enjoyed being in this museum. The museum has two main parts, the exhibition hall and the large scale theater. Tickets for the exhibition hall costs Y500 and Y600 for the theater. If you want to get both, you can get a discounted ticket at Y800.

The large scale theater has a large screen measuring 10 meters high and 20 meters wide. It can hold up to 200 people per screening. Movies run four times a day at 10:20am, 12:40pm, 2:20pm and 4:00pm. The movies would have been interesting but they are all in Japanese. I decided not to try the theater for this reason and instead only bought a ticket for the exhibition hall which I think is still worth it. I didn't feel that I actually missed something on not going to the theater.

 

In front of the museum is a large display of the Curtiss- Wright C 46 cargo plane, which was previously used by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in the 1950s.

Upon entering the museum, you will see this information board with several interesting flyers not only about airplanes but also about some events in the Tokorozawa area. There's even a promotional flyer of the movie Zero starring Okada Junichi, Miura Haruma and Inoue Mao. On the right side of the entrance, there are also several pilot uniforms of several sizes with matching hats that you can wear for picture-taking purposes. There are also sizes for kids.

The exhibition hall offers several interesting areas such as the Runway and Apron, where real planes and helicopters previously used by the Japanese defense forces are on display.

You can even board some of them, sit on the pilot's seat and move the plane's wings and tail. However, it is important to note that the controls should be handled with care.

There are also disassembled parts of the planes like motors, seats, propellers, wheels, etc. In the History of Tokorozawa, there are photos of famous people from Tokorozawa Saitama who had been involved in Japanese aviation. There are also old flying suits and gloves.

The Hangar tells the history of aviation. There is a special part dedicated solely to the Wright Brothers, the first ones who succeeded in flying the world's first engine-powered flight. In the Control Tower, there are replicas of actual control units used for controlling air traffic. There are also flight simulation devices where you can try to fly and land a plane.

In the Laboratory, there are videos and illustrations that show how the planes and helicopters, like insects and birds, are able to fly. If you press the red button, this rocket will fly up in the air.

This is an interesting scale that would determine how many balloons are needed to lift you high up in the sky.

 

This is an example of only one among many flight simulation devices in the museum. You can try flying the model helicopter in front of you by controlling the joy stick and pressing some buttons.

Additional attractions that are worth trying are: the workshop, where you will be taught some experiments and handicrafts related to airplanes; the sky hope, a flight simulator for flying a helicopter; and the space walker, which allows you to experience various types of gravity.

The museum is small but because there are a lot of things to do inside, it will take an average of two hours to explore the place. If you would want to try all the simulation devices, it might take longer. Also expect that there will be more people and longer lines on the simulation devices during weekends.