From retro books and magazines, Japanese block prints, old maps, and cute picture books to the latest comics, technical books, and novels, Kanda-Jimbocho is a book lover’s heaven! The upcoming events “Kanda Secondhand Book Festival” and “Jimbocho Book Festival” make the world’s largest “book town” even more exciting. It’s time for a stroll through Tokyo’s book town!
The Kanda Secondhand Book Festival is a treasure hunt
Kanda-Jimbocho’s famous second-hand bookstores are packed with rare books, bringing book lovers from all over the country together. Here, you find rare second-hand books of all genres, out-of-print books, and cheap books all in one place. When you stroll through the bookstore district, it feels like going on a treasure hunt.
“Kanda Secondhand Book Festival” features a “corridor of books” with 1 million books crammed in shelves positioned along the walkway. The line of bookshelves goes for about 500 meters (0,3 miles), starting at the Surugadai-shita intersection along Yasukuni-Dori Street. With countless shelves on one side and bookstores on the other side, a walk through the corridor feels like diving into a gigantic library. According to an owner of one of the bookstores, he can’t display all books in his tiny store. Therefore, the festival is a chance for him to bring rare books out of his warehouse and place them on the open-air bookshelves.
When visiting the festival, you can also find beautiful block prints, old-fashioned postcards, and vintage maps. These make great decor for your home, making the event a big recommendation for autumn outings.
Date: October 28 (Friday) – November 3 (Thursday/holiday) 10:00-19:00 (until 18:00 on the last day)
Venue: Jimbocho second-hand bookstore district (Kanda Jimbocho area, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
https://jimbou.info/
Nearest stations: Jimbocho Station, Ochanomizu Station
Get a bargain at the “Jimbocho Book Festival” wagon sale!
Kanda-Jimbocho is an area where not only second-hand bookstores but also bookstores selling newly published books line up. At the “Jimbocho Book Festival” held at the same time as the “Kanda Secondhand Book Festival”, a wagon sale is held by publishers located in the Kanda Jimbocho area.
In addition, autographed books, novels, picture books, dictionaries, and many book-related items such as bookmarks or book covers and limited items from Japanese publishers are also available. Wandering around Suzuran-dori Street will make every bookworm happy!
Date: October 29th (Sat) and 30th (Sun) 10:00-18:00
Venue: Kanda Suzuran-dori Street, Open Space around Jimbocho Mitsui Building
http://osanpo-jimbo.com
Nearest stations: Jimbocho Station, Ochanomizu Station
*The “Sanseido Jimbocho Main Store” that appears in our video has moved to a temporary location for the time being due to the construction of a new store. Temporary store address: 2-5 Kanda Ogawamachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
* Events might get canceled due to heavy rain or Covid-19
