Booksellers & Stationers in Tokyo
15 stores · curated ORBIS register
Nakameguro's Cow Books specialises in out-of-print books covering photography and counterculture alongside other subjects. HAGISO sells art books and local craft in Yanaka, within a converted apartment building that also houses a gallery and café. Roppongi Tsutaya Books carries art and design publications in Roppongi, providing reading spaces alongside a programme of book signings and talks.
Cow Books is an independent bookshop that opened in September 2002 beside the Meguro river in Nakameguro. Its founders were book critic Yataro Matsuura and Setsumasa Kobayashi. The two thousand or so titles have no fixed genre and are chosen for what they stir in a reader, alongside vintage magazines and a small line of cow-logo goods. Coffee is served at a long wooden table under the statement Everything for the Freedom.
Renovated 1950s apartment building turned cultural space with gallery, café, and guesthouse. The shop sells art books, local crafts, and design objects.
Curated lifestyle store in the JP Tower with Japanese design objects, stationery, and home goods. Emphasises products that tell a story of Japanese craftsmanship.
A stationery shop in Kuramae selling fountain, rollerball, dip and glass-nib pens, inks, notebooks and letter papers, with a custom notebook binding and refill service and a bespoke ink-blending counter for made-to-order ink.
The bible — Lightning, CLUTCH, and The Rake Japan editions. The publishing house that defines, documents, and shapes Japanese heritage fashion culture. Every issue is archival quality.
Seven floors of Japanese lifestyle goods — stationery, homeware, beauty, and quirky gadgets. Known for exclusive collaborations and limited-edition collections.
One of Tokyo's largest bookstores with an impressive foreign language section. Seven floors of books including academic titles, art books, magazines, and Japanese literature. The architecture section.
Premium bookstore with an extensive art, design, and photography selection. Comfortable reading spaces and a Starbucks. Regular book signings and talks with authors and creatives.
Sekaido has sold art materials in Shinjuku since 1940. The main store at 3-1-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, fills five selling floors above the street. Stationery and paper give way to paints and modelling supplies, and the upper two floors are given over to frames. Twelve Sekaido shops trade in all, most of them in Tokyo.
Landmark design and cultural center with gallery spaces, a design shop, café, and restaurant. The attached Spiral Market carries curated homeware, stationery, and accessories. A hub for Tokyo's design. Established 1985.
Independent stationery shop and risograph printing studio. Original notebooks, cards, and prints by Japanese illustrators. Also offers printing services for artists and small publishers.
Independent magazine and bookshop with a focus on art, photography, and culture publications. Excellent coffee and a quiet reading atmosphere. Regular events with photographers and editors.
Hands Shibuya is a multi-level shop in Udagawacho, with a product-location tool to help visitors find items such as notebooks and pens. Its branch website lists cutting and processing services alongside personalisation, with separate reception times for these activities. Workshops and temporary displays add another reason to consult the store's programme before planning a visit.
The original creative life store with eight floors of DIY supplies, homeware, stationery, and quirky lifestyle goods. From woodworking tools to skincare to travel accessories.
Eclectic novelty store often described as 'the store that sells everything interesting.' Books, toys, accessories, home goods, and quirky Japanese inventions.