Kinokuniya
Since 1981, Kinokuniya, the hip Japanese bookstore chain, has served New York’s Japanese-language readers from its outlet at Rockefeller Center with it’s impressive stock of imported Japanese paperbacks, latest issues of hard-to-find magazines, DVDs (such as the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki - Spirited Away) and CDs. Now the company has decided that Japanese is no longer the center of its universe. It’s new store overlooking Bryant Park will house a majority of English-language titles in an effort to expand their audience. But Japanophiles fear not: The new three-storey store, one of nine Kinokuniyas in the United States, is stocked with plenty of Japanese-language novels, fashion magazines and a huge manga (comic) collection in both Japanese and English. The old store will close at the end of the year.
Avenue of the Americas, near 40th Street
Books are also sold online at www.kinokuniya.com