When I first moved to Japan, language wasn’t the only challenge. Finding English books was also difficult. I mean it’s easy if you go directly to stores like Books Kinokuniya Tokyo and have money to spare. But for bookworms like me with a yearly reading challenge, it can be expensive.
I decided to explore secondhand bookshops like Bookoff even if they only had a few selection of English books, sometimes as little as just one bookshelf. They might not be much but I was able to find classics like J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and an anthology of stories by Ray Bradbury.
I started sharing my book finds in Google maps to inspire others to read as much as they can because stories allow you to travel when finances won’t. Through books, my desire to explore the world outside my imagination grew and now I am able to wander to my heart’s content with the help of Google maps.
If you want to know other places where you can find English books in Japan, you can check out the list I created. There’s one that offers free books if you exchange an old one. Happy reading!