Books Kinokuniya

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For the high-end Japanese supermarket, see Kinokuniya.

Kinokuniya
Native name
紀伊國屋書店
IndustryRetail
Founded22 January 1927
FounderMoichi Tanabe
Headquarters3-7-10, Shimomeguro, Meguro, Tokyo
Number of locations
70 (Japan)
43 (overseas)
Area served
Japan, United States, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, The Philippines

Books Kinokuniya (紀伊國屋書店, Kinokuniya Shoten) is a Japanese bookstore chain operated by Kinokuniya Company Ltd. (株式会社紀伊國屋書店, Kabushiki-gaisha Kinokuniya Shoten), founded in 1927, with its first store located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Its name translates to "Bookstore of Kii Province". The company has its headquarters in Meguro, Tokyo.[1]

One of the company's goals has been to cater to the interests of not only local Japanese clients, but to a wider, more diverse clientele. Its international bookstores focus on supplying a wide range of both Japanese and English books.[2]

History

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Kinokuniya was originally a lumber and charcoal dealer in Yotsuya; and after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the business was moved westward to a new location in Shinjuku, where it was refashioned into a book store by former president Moichi Tanabe, opening with a staff of five in January 1927, and included an art gallery on the second floor, as Tanabe believed that bookstores should also serve to promote the arts and culture in general.[3] He named it after Kii Province, given that his ancestor was a servant of the Kii-Tokugawa family; they are not related to the Edo Period merchant Kinokuniya Bunzaemon.

The original building burnt down in May 1945 during an air raid, but reopened in December 1945. Over the next few years, more Kinokuniya shops opened around Japan. In 1964, the Kinokuniya building was built in Shinjuku by Kunio Maekawa to serve as the company's flagship store and headquarters. The property features nine stories with two underground floors, and includes the Kinokuniya Hall and Art Gallery on the 4th floor, a venue known for its cultural events and theatrical, comedic, and musical performances. The building itself was designated a Tokyo Historic Building in 2017.[4][5]

In 2016, a document revealing discriminatory hiring practices by the company in the 1980s surfaced when it was published by trade unions.[6]

The company owns the Kinokuniya building of San Francisco's Japan Center mall and has drawn criticism for continuing to charge tenants full rent during the COVID-19 pandemic, putting businesses in San Francisco's historic Japantown at risk.[7]

Store

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Kinokuniya is the largest bookstore chain in Japan, with 70 shops around the country, in cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka. There are 43 Kinokuniya shops outside Japan.[8]

Its first overseas store opened in San Francisco in 1969. Several other bookstores have since opened in the United States, in cities including Los Angeles and New York. It then ventured into the Asia-Pacific market, opening its first store in Singapore (Liang Court Store) in 1983. Shops in Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand followed suit. In 1996, Kinokuniya opened its first outlet in Australia, located in Sydney's Neutral Bay. It later moved to its present location in George Street in the Central Business District.

Since 2000, Kinokuniya in the US has capitalized on the growing popularity of Japanese popular culture by stocking both English- and Japanese-language books and manga, as well as other Japanese TV, film and gaming-related merchandise. The New York City branch in Rockefeller Center was the best-known, encompassing, lengthwise, an entire city block. A new store has recently opened on Avenue of the Americas, near Bryant Park, replacing the old store, which closed at the end of 2007. The bookstore located at 1073 Sixth Ave includes three floors. The top floor has an in-store café with products from nearby Cafe Zaiya,[9] where customers are offered a range of fresh sandwiches, cakes, bento boxes and bubble tea.[2] The middle floor concentrates on English books of all types, while the basement level houses Japanese books and magazines, as well as a wide variety of stationery.

Books Kinokuniya is known for the immense size of its bookshops. For more than 10 years, its store in Ngee Ann City, Singapore, was the largest bookshop in South East Asia, until the opening of the new Gramedia flagship store in Jakarta in 2007.

On January 13, 2010, Kinokuniya opened its first branch in Hong Kong.

Fellow international bookstore chain Page One (headquartered in Singapore) began as the magazine agent for Kinokuniya, but later became independent.

On September 22, 2017, Kinokuniya opened its first branch in Vietnam.

In March 2019, Kinokuniya's Singaporean branch announced that the Liang Court store was to close on April 21, 2019.[10] The Plaza Senayan outlet of Kinokuniya's Indonesian branch closed on April 1, 2021.[11]

On November 18, 2022, Kinokuniya opened its first Philippine branch at Mitsukoshi BGC Mall in cooperation with Fully Booked.[12]

In April 2023, Kinokuniya's Indonesian branch opened an outlet on Central Market, PIK 2.

On December 15, 2024, the Plaza Senayan outlet was reopened.

On February 18, 2025, Kinokuniya announced that its Ngee Ann City store in Singapore was to be downsized, with some of the vacated space being reserved for a café.[13]

Overseas stores

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File:Taipei Breeze Store, Kinokuniya Bookstores of Taiwan 20200213.jpg
Books Kinokuniya store located in Breeze Center, Taipei
File:Books Kinokuniya in Siam Paragon 201801.jpg
Books Kinokuniya store located in Siam Paragon, Bangkok
File:The Galleries Victoria.jpg
Books Kinokuniya store located in The Galeries Victoria, Sydney
File:Books Kinokuniya, Orchard Road (02).jpg
Books Kinokuniya store located in Ngee Ann City, Orchard Road, Singapore
File:Jakarta Kinokuniya art books section.jpg
Books Kinokuniya store located in Sogo Pondok Indah Mall, Jakarta

Overseas, there are 43 stores in total as of January 2025. They are located in:[14]

See also

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References

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