Kinokuniya Bookstores

Dad and I passed a Kinokuniya bookstore in Tokyo. Dad, excited, declared that it is a very famous bookstore. I didn't bother popping his sense of discovery. He said he must go. I skeptically arranged to find him there after running an errand next door, wondering why he would care to see a bookstore chain.

Meeting up with him fifteen minutes later, he sheepishly said "all the books are in Japanese." And, no, Dad can't read Japanese.

I do agree with Dad, though. Kinokuniya is a fantastic chain. Outside Japan, that is. It is one of the stores with the most extensive English book inventory in its retail stores throughout Southeast Asia. Even in English-speaking Singapore where Borders has presence I found myself gravitating toward Kinokuniya for my shopping. For those of us avid readers living abroad, that accessibility is important.