Kinokuniya

I bought oranze mechanic pencil.
I didn’t used it now TT
But i like japanese stationery
Little expensive but i can’t wait to order amazon

I love this place! They are always up to date with all the Japanese magazines that I love! If you love fashion magazines, then this place is for you! I will admit that they are pretty pricey. Some of the magazines will contain a free item inside which I found very nifty! There would be magazines that are 20%off because the free item will sometimes contains makeup and the FDA doesn’t approve some of the ingredients inside. The service is fantastic and I haven’t had any bad experiences so far!

We hope this place stays around forever.
Yes, we can buy some things cheaper on Amazon, but there are items that you can’t get outside of Japan… and if Kinokuniya goes away, where will that leave us?
So, we happily support you and look forward to visiting every time!

This place is amazing! I couldn’t believe there was a place better than Barnes And Noble. This place has a big variety of Manga, Animé Art Books, Animation references, magazines. This was my first time coming here and little did I know I was going to spend $ 270 in my first visit. Best place to go if you want to find something unique. This place also sells art supplies, Japanese culture and history.

An A+ for their good selection of animé related items alone, however, Kinokuniya also boasts quite a wide array of Japanese related items and books. Good prices, friendly staff, and overall just a good place to visit and shop while you are in Little Tokyo.

I love kinokuniya, it’s my favorite place to get manga! I can spend an hour browsing all the books, looking for a new cookbook, stationary, or buying the latest manga! Of course, I get them in Japanese because it’s a great way to practice my Japanese reading ability otherwise I’m out of luck when it comes to practicing.
The staff are great and will always try to help you. It’s organized. You may even find little figures or trinkets that you love. I even got a free pin when I bought manga here! Oh, buy some of the Japanese magazines and you may find you got a prize hidden between the pages! I’ve scored bags, combs, another manga, and various things that they like to include in each one.

There is no other bookstore like this (so far). This is a great independent bookstore that is in Weller Court in Little Tokyo. It has a lot of books for everyone, and includes a lot of literature/​books/​gifts/​stationery dealing with Japan, Japanese and Japanese American culture. I love going in there and just browsing.

Dear Kinokuniya,
I appreciate your great products, and service especially the workers who work for the top bosses. But the Managers seem to be generating a negative energy to their customers as well as their own subordinates… Ive beens shopping here for a year, spent more than 3k on merchandise, And to receive mean, nasty, annoyed service by the manager is very hurtful and is not professional of them. I wish the managers would put aside their personal hatred and serve with a kind and happy attitude. Just because your a manager doesn’t mean your a great leader, its your character that will lead.
Other than this its a great store I hope I can re rate this with a 4 star in the future

I always enjoy coming to this place. They have a variety of unique and fun gifts you can give to yourself as well as friends and family. Being a fan of animé and manga I was an automatic fan of this place as they carry manga as well as Japanese magazines. The unique gifts at this place will have you looking around deciding which item to purchase to add or use for your collection.
Service is great as the staff will make sure your needs are met.
Parking is in the public lot or adjacent street.

+ LOTS of things to look at
+ Wallet vacuum this place is
+ COOL items
+ AWESOME items
I seriously love this place. From the first time I stepped in, to the 2^nd, to the 3^rd, to the 4^th. I just love to come back to this place. They have so many cool items to look at and buy, you just gotta make time for this place. From the little intricate Japanese pens to magazines, to all out animé stuff. This place WILL put a dent on your wallet if you’re not careful.
Every time I’m in the plaza, I try not to look up to the 2^nd floor because I know this place is just there waiting for me. The staff is real friendly as well. and very helpful if you need anything.
If you’re in the area, do come here!

Very cool spot, they carry every single Japanese magazine!
They also have very cool gifts and novelty items

Noticeably pricy, but the variety and uniqueness of their selection makes it worth it.
For me, all I do when I go here is just look at the pens. I really purchase 1 – 4 pens each time I’m here as I have an unhealthy habit of losing them at work. The pens they have here — more than they should be, but convenient and they are harder to obtain elsewhere. However, I do prefer the Costa Mesa location more — due to pen selection. Yeah… why did I end up talking about pens…

Like the place :) here have a lot of Japanese book ex: magazine, comic book, stationery
Also can order some book from Japan

I absolutely love coming to Kinokuniya whenever i’m in Little Tokyo because they have the largest selection of magazines imported straight from Japan.
Store is always clean, staff is super friendly and able to answer any questions. Plus, if there’s a magazine, book or manga you’re thinking of buying, but it’s covered in shrink wrap (if you’re a collector, this is a dream) Don’t worry! the staff will more than gladly open the plastic for you and let you read it in the store.
There’s also a great selection of stationary items, pens, papers, colored pencils, figurines and animé merchandise (for the otakus that can’t wait till Animé Expo to buy their goods… guilty)
The only downside? it’s expensive, esp when they import things from Japan not only are they charging you whatever amount the item is converted from yen to dollar, but they also attach the shipping fee as well. Well worth it tho cause I can find things here that I can’t find anywhere else, or would have to pay double sometimes triple if I get it off Amazon or other internet retailers.

Charming, beautiful… expensive.
Everything is very, very cute or brilliantly designed. This is the store for paper fanatics. If you’re into sending nice thank-​you notes, or you’ve ever tried to wiggle your fingers into a package of printer paper at an Office Depot to try and determine which brand is the smoothest/​nicest, this is the store for you. In addition to Japanese designs, there’s a lot of independent, local designs available as well.
Their paper goods are amazing. Their pens and other stationery are of a similarly high quality and variety. There’s a great variety of magazines imported from Japan and of manga, but it’s hard for me to keep walking past the amazing paper/​pens/​stickers.
It can get really expensive really quickly, but it’s well worth it.

I like this little bookstore. Not a fan of the location but they have almost everything Japanese (books and magazines) that I need to satisfy my animé cravings. That being said, I’m not that into animé so for you animé lovers, they may be short on variety. They have plenty of art design books, fashion magazines, map posters, and novels (in Japanese mostly). They also carry nano toys that are really popular in Japan right now as well as traditional style wedding, funeral, and celebration cards. Make sure to ask them which one to use or read the labels because although some may look similar, you don’t want to mistakenly give someone a condolence card on their wedding.
Some of the items seem a bit overpriced when comparing to other stores but the items from Japan, you can’t find at other places.

If I want something Japanese, I come here because I know they will have it. Any Animé fans out there? Well, when my boy was into Animé, we would spend hours in the comic sections and end up buying at least one book for him. I recollect seeing all the similar books I used in Japanese school, so if you wanted to learn Japanese by yourself, all the materials are here.
I think my daughter actually liked all the stationary and cool pens they have for drawing. She is very artistic that way. For me, it was all about the sales, and how cheap I can buy made in Japan products, which are usually highly marked up when they are fads, but are slowly reduced as the sensation fades.
If you have an afternoon to just browse, you can lose all your stress by just walking the aisles and seeing all the J-​Pop, and Japanese bookstore merchandise available locally and from Japan. If you are a sansei or yonsei, you must come here at least once to celebrate your culture!

I’ve been the member of Kinokuniya since 2008 and I came to this place every 1 – 2 months to buy some Japanese books.
This place might be the biggest Japanese bookstore in Los Angeles area and the collection is good as well.
But I’m just going to talk about the experience that I had today. There are reasons that I give this place 2 stars.
While I was in the store, I couldn’t find the book I was looking for. The staff (The middle aged gentleman) was very friendly. He tried his best to look for the book for me. We also talked about the book and I enjoyed the conversation. He put the book at the cashier’s desk so I could pay it later.
However, the cashier (middle aged lady with glasses) ruined my experience at Kinokuniya today. When I’m came to the cashier’s desk, I said «こんにちは。先預かっていた本をお支払いに来ました.”(Hi, I’m here to pay the book that I just left here) My Japanese is not perfect because it’s not my first language, but I try my best every time I speak it. Also, I know she speaks Japanese because I heard her speaking with the person in front of me in Japanese. She frowns at me first, and I tried to explain to her again that I’m here to pay for the book, in Japanese. She frowns again and turned to her colleague, said «全然分からない”(means «I can’t understand him at all») in front of me. Her colleague told her what I mean and she took out the book, started to speak English to me until I paid and left.
I lived in Japan for 3 years, and trust me, it is very, very rude to say «I don’t understand what he’s talking about» with a frown face right in front of a customer, people can get fired because of doing so. Also, I don’t think it’s ok to complain in front of a customer right in front of him/​her in U.S. either. I expect a high level of service in a Japanese store like Kinokuniya. The lady might thought I don’t understand her either so I wouldn’t know if she complains in Japanese. But sorry, I heard all of it, crystal clear.
I really loved the bookstore, but today’s experience really surprised me. Maybe I should lower my expectation when I shop in a Japanese store that is not in Japan?

When I first started learning Japanese, my go-​to bookstore for «School Line» notebooks (for kanji practice) was Asahiya Bookstore in the Little Tokyo Shopping Center. They had everything! And then BOOM! Asahiya closed! I wondered what I would do? The Little Tokyo Shopping Center was my one-​stop shop because I could grab lunch, do some grocery shopping, get some new chopsticks, play some video games and then get my school supplies all in one «hidden» location.
Well, that was a long time ago… and I can say that I’ve been shopping at Kinokuniya Bookstore on «Astronaut» since Asahiya closed, and it is amazing! Their paper product selection is vast… they sell airmail sets that I love (I still have penpals!); I do origami, and they have that paper too! I always buy my study materials here (notebooks, dictionaries, textbooks) and the staff is so helpful. I asked if they have Disney movies in Japanese, and though they are not in stock (because it’s a «specific interest») they were more than willing to order it for me, if I wanted.
You know, when I go into a business that caters to my non-​native language, I can feel a little intimidated, and though I speak enough Japanese to communicate my needs now, I can still get a little insecure but I’m happy to say that, in my experience, this store has always been kind and understanding. I’ve shopped here for many years, and I hope to shop here for many more.

I’m a sucker for physical media, especially when it comes to manga and art books. Only problem with that is, most stores only carry a limited selection (Barnes & Noble) or I have to buy it used (Book-​Off). I do occasionally buy from Amazon, but then shipping becomes a factor and ain’t nobody got time for that. Fortunately, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work somewhat close to Kinokuniya.
Kinokuniya has been really good with having things available on their US release date. I usually come in during lunch breaks just to peruse and I always seem to find whatever I’m looking for. It’s a really awesome place if you’re really into either manga, art books, jpop, magazines and art supplies. On the flip-​side, while definitely convenient, it’s lacks the same diversity and abundance in figures, animé, and other memorabilia.
One thing I really like about Kinokuniya is the fact that they keep most of their new books shrink-​wrapped; it just seems to satisfy the collector in me. Also, shouldn’t be a big surprise since it’s not something you see at other places but, don’t expect anything cheaper than sticker price. Most items will cost you well over $ 10 a pop; my word of advice, be selective with what you buy. If the item you’re looking for isn’t all that obscure and you can wait/​have Amazon Prime, you may be better off saving a few bucks by buying it online. However, I’ve occasionally seen art books/​figures get like a 25% discount depending on their condition/​shelf life.
Definitely feel free to take your time, I’ve never been harassed by staff and they don’t seem to mind the «I’m just looking» clientele.

My boys are very into Animé, we were up in LA for the day, so checked this store out. It was really impressive! I don’t know a lick of Japanese, but we stayed here for what seemed like hours browsing, laughing and «How cute!» –ing. Got some great books of Kanji and the language in general. (The prices on Amazon were a bit cheaper though.) It’s ok, you won’t find the selection many other places around here.
This store is loaded with product, yet clean, neat and employees are nice. I’ll be back.