The One about Book Town – Jimbocho (Tokyo)

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Every morning in Jimbocho (a neighborhood of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan), you will see many of the used-book stores put their books out for sale.

The location is where the prestigious Tokyo Book Binding Club and Literature Preservation Society is located, also the location of Shonen Jump’s Shueisha, as well as five major universities (Nihon, Senshu, Meiji, Hosei and Juntendo).

While Jinbocho (or Jimbocho) is named after samurai, Jinbo Nagaharu in the 17th century.

Unfortunately, there was a major fire in 1913 which destroyed the majority of the city. Fortunately, professor Iwanami Shigeo opened a bookstore in the area which would become Iwanami Shoten publishing house.

And because of the number of books sold in the area (especially its wonderful cafe and restaurants), the location attracts university students and intellectuals.

And so, Jimbocho has received the reputation of being called “Book Town”.

Of course, there is more to this neighborhood, which I will showcase more on my blog.  But for now, here are several shots of “Book Town”, Jimbocho which I took!