Jinbōchō, the book town

photo by Lombroso · Public domain

photo by Nesnad · CC BY 4.0

A student neighbourhood where second-hand bookshops stand side by side.

It is a 「学生街」, a university neighbourhood, and the antiquarian bookshops follow one another for whole blocks: people looking for a rare book come here from all over Japan. Between one bookshop and the next you eat curry (there is a Kanda curry championship) and soba.

New bookshops, second-hand ones and rare-book dealers stand on the same street, and the density is what makes the place: it is not one big bookshop, it is many small bookshops close together.

ℹ️ Public streets, open at all times; opening hours are those of the individual shops, and the antiquarian bookshops close early and often on Sundays. ⚠️ This last point, however, is a warning to check, not a fact: the tourism board's page does not publish opening hours.

🚉 Jimbocho · 3 min walk

Sources: gotokyo.org · thehistoriantraveller.com

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