animemiz’s scribblings..

Just as I reported on Asahiya several months back, I noticed this about BookOff.. they are moving…  This is news that would be of interest to people who frequent New York’s BookOff or visits. I blogged about this bookstore a while ago. This news of course, is better news than Asahiya’s closing several months back. I saw this news as I was in BookOff today, and tweeted about it, got some responses.. If you can’t read from the photo above…

animemiz: Oh my big news… on March 20, NYC BookOff is going to be closed for relocation to 45th betw. 5th and 6th to reopen estimate on April 17

So here are some thoughts.. I have been at this location since I was in High school, so I have seen them move thingss around, add and remove things. I have mixed feelings about this place moving. Some people may or not agree. I will try to list them out.

Mostly because I love bookstores, new or used this is also my family’s favorite used bookstore, to go and hang around for 3-4 hours. Plenty of New Yorkers would say it would be the Strand having top honors as being the Used bookstore, but BookOff has a niche. I usually end up batting my family off away from the English books/cds, but then go slightly nuts on my own for what I like. This is a bookstore that takes dvds, cds, books, games.. and review it for sale on the spot. This can probably mean… huge money losses for you, but one thing is good about this place is that once you bring it to them, that your bookshelf has blank spots in it. Still this is a used bookstore, so there is always the temptation to go and stock up on more books to buy.

Pros about BookOff Moving

• Bigger location means more products space, or places to just browse through books, games, cds, dvds, magazines, stationary..
• A fresh new look to the business

Cons about BookOff’s Move

• The time that there is no BookOff to visit is kinda bad.. I am use to 365/7 schedule… so probably will have some widrawal symptoms.
• Familiar spot is no more.
• New Yorkers and visitors alike would have to get use to the new location, otherwise they’ll miss out on this Japanese Used super giant.
• No more close proximity to the libraries, and familiar Japanese food/grocery sites.

Possibilities of BookOff’s Move

• More air circulation – summer and winter it gets so crowded some times, that the air grows stale, especially on the second floor.
• Cell phone reception is already crappy at the location of BookOff, so perhaps better cell phone reception?
• Availability of a restroom facility? Since there is currently none at the BookOff location. There use to be, but that was a while ago.
• Well I know that my bookstore hopping route is going to be changing slightly. This can be a bad or good thing, but one thing… up for speculations.. since it is probably not going to be like a rectangle path anymore from NYC Kinokuniya.

So what to do you think of my thoughts? Hmm.. I am going to have to process this some more.  Should look at my used Soymilk Desserts.. that I found for about $5 cheaper than at NYC Kinokuniya.. ;p

Okay this has been on my mind since the summer, when I did attend this event. I got really hung up about other things, so instead of working on reviews, and my photography class – decided to procrastinate, and here is my idea of procrastination. Plus I worked a bit on updating some titles and tags on my Flickr page, so did that.

For the closing of the summer, there was the Japanese Street fair, which was relatively similar or maybe more commercial than the Mitsuwa Summer Matsuri, that I attended relatively two weeks before this event.

I was there really early, but then left as the place got so crowded, that it was pretty claustrophobic, plus there was the summer heat, and believe me.. you don’t want to be around that. Hinano actually wrote about her opinion on the street fair more on schedule/time-wise, than my late entry.

The first Japanese Street fair was a slight disappointment to me, in some ways – because there weren’t as much space as I would have liked it to be. The Japanese portion of the fair was only one block from 42nd to 43rd, and it was so packed. There was a ticket aspect to paying for food, so that I guess it was food controlling. New York Anime Festival was also there, to pump up the air for tickets, and that it is going to be the next weekend. So there was the maids, and there was the cosplayers.

I saw some people that I hung out more with this summer, and met some people there as well. Got some free samples, spent a short bit of time with Kero, and then spent the rest of the day going off with another friend to go to Duets 48, where I was went to karaoke. Tried to sing, got really nervous, was the day that I got to sing Avenue Q songs, fan girl-ed over a City Hunter song, and then had fun singing Hikki songs with another friend who came in the middle of the karaoke. Because of my learning hirigana over the summer, was happy to be able to read the lyrics of some songs.

Now I need to go and write up my review on the Brooklyn Book Festival, and thus prepare for New York Anime Festival. These days a bit more slower on writing. But for slide show purposes, here are some pictures I took.

What a dreadful soggy day. Weather and reality aside.

Okay I found out tonight as my friends and I made a round of bookstore hopping like always, and a sign was posted on Asahiya’s entrance, and it was saying that the store, due to circumstances was closing permanently. Their last day is on October 31, 2009. My friends and I were pretty crushed. One of my friends actually asked if it was a bad dream or not.

I also recently wrote an entry about them as well..

This feels like when they closed their location at Vanderbilt all over again.. no wonder there were having mad sales like mad. Now it would be more final.

They’re not using their point card system or not, rather – they’re not stamping any new marks. They’ll honor the stamps, if you have a full card, and then incomplete cards.. they’ll be counting each stamp as though it was $0.25 a mark.

I am wondering if Asahiya is closing for these reasons – Recession. No Sales. Competition from Kinokuniya nearby. I’ll try and see if I can take any more pictures to place up as a memory situation.

They would be having sales on DVDs/CDs toward the time of when the store is nearly closing. They cleared out a good portion of their anime sections already. My friends have been purchasing Nico dolls, Haruhi Suzumiya, and Lucky Star little figurines. There are some CLAMP in 3-D Wonderland figures available. I see trading cards, jigsaw puzzles at pretty insane prices. Some Evangelion, Bleach, Gurren Laggen accessories are still there… (sighs)

So another Japanese bookstore bites the dust. A long time ago there was four, and now with Asahiya closing, there would only be Bookoff and Kinokuniya left.

Okay this bookstore is tucked away on a side street, so most people would go over to Kino or BookOff, here is Asahiya. It is located on E45th street between 5th and Madison. It use to be located on Vanderbilt and as other people would often say that the selections here wouldn’t be as much as Kino nearby. This place is a complete contrast to Kino, in only selling Japanese mangas, and no English graphic novels. Most of the products are also shrink wrapped, so it protects the products.

The bookstore is only one floor, as you walk into the store, there is a large row of magazines that get updated on a near weekly basics. You can also browse the magazines here, whereas it is shrink wrapped at Kino. The magazines are also more updated than Kino’s. So if you like to browse before you purchase then Asahiya is a place to go.

The cash register as I would place as a point of origin, is in the center of the room, with CDs/DVDs on the right of the room if you look dead straight into the room. The Japanese animation/mangas are in the back of the room to the right end, with a cart of discounted CDs/DVDs nearby. There are stationary products behind the cash register section. Also a Japanese learning section with the store’s few English titles on the left of the register. Toward the back of the room on the left side, before you go into the right end of the room, there is a small set of stairs with a television set.

What makes this place stand out is the point card that this store uses for customer loyalty and points aspect. BookOff did away with the system a while back, so only Asahiya of the three NYC bookstores would keep this style. If you fill up a card, it would be about -$10 discount. Each stamp is worth about $5.

Recently though, there have been a great deal of Japanese anime/stationary sales at this location. I picked up several plushes that were marked down really cheaply. Stationary, CDs, DVDs were also heavily discounted toward the back. A friend of mine picked up so many figures.

This is a bookstore to at least sample on a visit to New York City, it may be considered to be small, but quaint. On Fridays the bookstore cloes at 9pm, so my friends and I usually are at Asahiya until they close, and I have never noticed a PA system, rather their way of signaling closing is to to turn off the lights. Still this is a blog entry on featuring Asahiya, if you want more opinions or reviews, I would point out that there are more opinions of this location at yelp.com.

I have been going to this location since I was in High school. Book Off is located in a tucked away block on East 41th street between 5th Avenue and Madison Street is Book Off, Japan’s largest chain of used Bookstores. This is a place to pick up used books, manga, cds, DVDs and video games. Anything that is sold in a book store is usually sold here, and for a reasonable price as well. The bookstore is also always looking for any of the above that a person has to sell. Dependent on the condition though, the seller of these items to the store will most likely not see as good as a return, unless they go sell it themselves or anyone wants to purchase it from them.

Inside the bookstore there are three levels. No elevators, and is usually a tight squeeze. The basement has Japanese language used books, while the first floor has CDs, DVDs, Video Games, English used books and stationary items. In between the first and second floor is a section on the English books of Japanese culture, novels, or learning tools. The second floor is an small alcove where there is the manga, artbooks, magazines, toys and a small Children section.

Seating is sparse throughout the store, so many people just stand. There are step ladders around the first floor and the basement, so that people can occasionally stand to on it to look for high reaching items, or perhaps sit on it? A popular sitting spot in the bookstore is the stairway that leads to the second floor.

Outside, E41th Street is known to bibilo-lovers as as Library Way, with plaques of literary expressions that commemorate NYPL and Grand Central’s partnership.

Also nearby Book Off, there is also the several more Japanese points of interest. There is the main Cafe Zaiya location, a Japanese small grocery, and a sushi restaurant. I love going to the grocery store, because of the Japanese food items, they also often have the television on showing Japanese food programing that I would never see otherwise. There is a small food location at the grocery store itself, only cash though. Zaiya offers set lunches on Monday to Fridays, and does take cash/credit. I have rarely stepped into the sushi restaurant, so not that much thoughts on it.

Of the four locations, I noticed Zaiya, the grocery store, and Book Off also having free Japanese periodicals available. Included in the Japanese periodicals is the monthly Chopsticks that is the English version highlighting all of the Japanese places of interests, and articles. Oh and Book Off seems to be the only place that has a bulletin board ad space for sale. So for those interested in looking at bulletins, or placing an ad Japanese relevent.. ^_^

This is not from my mouth, but from the website. Kinokuniya, located at 1073 Avenue of the Americas (Bet. 40th and 41st St). Directly across the street from Bryant Park, behind the New York Public Library with the Stone Lions of Patience and Fortitude. How I love this part of Midtown..

I mention the book store frequently as Kino on my Twitter, and other mentions of it. Several years ago, Kino was located at 49th street and across from the Rockefeller Center, close to the Nintendo Store. Of course now it has moved to a larger location. While I am not sure on the success of that move, as I do miss the old store, and its quaint music announcing its closing time over the PA system, this move to the new location has tighten my bookstore hopping route, and probably has led to the store’s ability to market better its resources (Zaiya, not just Japanese books) and events (guests, workshops).

So of course I get to go to Bryant Park slightly more than usual. Better spot for cosplayers to meet up and photo shoot to their hearts content, although I have never gone to one. I recently caught an interview with John, who is the manager of the store, and yes now after my trip to Japan. I have to say Kino is a store of its own quality.

In the NYC branch, there are three levels, the basement, and the second floor, with the first floor in the middle. On the first floor, there are the magazines, English books on various Asian countries, cookbooks, a section of fashion including a line from Jlist.com, representations of the other two floors, and restroom facilities. There is an escalator going up to the second floor, and an elevator to the basement with stairs leading up and down to the various floors.

The second floor is where the store events, artbooks, DVDs, cds, mangas, graphic novels are. This is also the floor where there is an extension of Cafe Zaiya as a small cafe. I love going there to sit and enjoy a cold or hot drink, while I occasionally read, write, or look through some of my purchases. On Fridays when I am at that Zaiya, I am waiting for my friends to join me, from their weekly excursions in Chinatown. While there is not of a wide food selection as the Zaiya Library Way (41 Street) branch, across the Bryant Park, there are pastries, and drinks. There is a menu of Tea fortes, which is a specific type of tea bag that comes in a cute pot and a cup. Also drinks, and food here are served on glassware, which is different from the plastic/paper ware in the Library Way branch. It was at this second floor that I was able to see TMR, HAL-KALI and most recently Ai Kwashima, since there is a lot of collaboration with Samurai Beat Radio, and New York Anime Festival. I wrote about those experiences on this blog, under events.

The basement is where there is the stationary, more Japanese books, Japanese language guides, Washi paper/origami, and a specific Children section. Recently they’re having a specific sale on Bento Boxes and Photo albums. All pretty fancy, and very nice Japanese products.

There is a no photos policy allowed in the store, so of all the times I go to the store, there are no pictures on my part, because I am unsure of what is to be allowed in picture taking. So if you want to see the store, I would say you can visit the store yourself upon visiting NYC, or search for pictures on Flickr, or if there are comments, I would probably include some on my own flickr account.

One neat thing about this store, other than the location is the fact that often, they would get certain manga/graphic arts title earlier than let’s say Borders. Because I consistently go to the store, I purchased a membership to their Anime/Manga discount card, which only gives a 10% discount for every specific Anime product, not counting the Studio Ghibli products or Stationary items in the basement. Not really much to really like about the card itself, but as a patron, one must go where the supposedly discounts are. I really wish they can have a point card system like what Asahiya has or like what Book Off use to have, but so far no point card system in sight. Also the Anime/Manga membership card is set to expire next year, so who know what will happen next year.

I will continue to go to the store, so yep Kino hasn’t seen the last of me yet.

Oh I forgot to mention to other day when I wrote about this, the manga and publications in the store are mostly shrink wrapped, that is a practice that I saw in Japanese stores a lot, and this I really appreciate. To try and get people to purchase it though, there are sample copies to pursue. Still if they would adapt this format in Borders or Barns & Noble, won’t that be a better idea? I wonder though what would happen to the plastics though. ^_^

Prior to going to Japan, I learned from Peter of Jlist through his Twittering, that there was a six story Kino in Japan, so of course on my first full day of Tokyo before I went to Kyoto. I had my friend take me to Kino, and impressed I was! It is located at the New South Exit side of the Shinjuku Station, past a Starbucks, and Krispy Kreme, where there is always a mob of people waiting. Krispy Kreme in my opinion is really not all that, but since its an American business, what else can I say, globalization at work.

I went and enjoyed every last minute of it.. >_< Six stories.. my mind is just boggled by that fact, also they were the only bookstore that carried International books and so I wasn’t far from a source of books to purchase and read on the Tokyo Metro. I was pretty surprise to have ran out of reading materials, early on – so this place was a great place to go for English books, and yes this was the only bookstore I found to carry English titles. Everything is at the yen price, so it can end up costing more for the item, like the artbooks I purchase in Kino NYC or Asahiya, because after all English titles are imported in a Japanese country. Still I am grateful, and for this – I would definitely say that this is the bookstore to go to, if you’re an English tourist traveling to Tokyo, and need to find some English books.

Okay — to check out more pictures of what I took, please visit my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/animemiz

This year, as Spring is arriving to the area. There was the annual Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and something did happen this year, Samurai Beat Radio sponsored for the appearance of Ai Kawashima, a J-pop singer that I liked hearing upon her sing the theme song for One Piece’s 8th movie.

As a  preliminary fan event, she made a fan meet and greet, a night before at Kinokuniya. This reminded me of Hal-Cali for Japan Day last year, and I was pretty excited to go see her. I learned about her attendance several months ago from Samurai Beat Radio’s blog, where she actually guest blogged several entries.

Prior to the event,  there was a presentation of the 8th movie, so a sizable amount of people were waiting to see her. The event was not as big as TMR though, by friends of mine remarked that this event had more people than Hal Cali, who I like as well.

Back to Ms. Kawshima though, she came right on time, and appeared to be pretty shy, and quiet, so Megumi who was hosting the event did a lot of promotion. For her new album, tours, and of course her appearances. But here are notes I took of when she was here though:

• This is her 4th time in NYC, having stayed in NYC for two months to record some songs.
• She speaks some English, but she is still learning.
• She loves penguins and visited the Central Park Zoo.
• She also loves One Piece.
• Of One Piece she loves the friendship message and views that Luffy is inspirational
• She has built two schools in developing nations, with a third school on the way.
• Before she became well known, she did 1000 street concerts in Tokyo.
• She began singing when she was 15 years, around Yatsuya Station.
• She is going to be returning to NYC to perform at Japan Day 2009
• She’s really cute when she smiles, and she did smile several times!
• She has a new album, single, and Japanese tour coming up, so that is really busy for her!

Okay now flash forward to the next day, and there was a huge turnout. Since this is my third year visiting Sakura Matsuri, I was pretty relaxed about the event. Prior to this weekend I had already visited the park, and while there was no Sakura whatsoever, I had to go get some pictures taken of the flowers, before they all got trampled by the mobs of people. This year, there was a great deal of more anime relevant things happening, as NY Anime Festival, Samurai Beat Radio were on hand to publicize events.

I didn’t get to the park until the afternoon, when a lot of events were kinda over. I did not realized that it rained until I read Hinano’s entry. As Hinano said there wasn’t as much unruly activity. I stood around a lot, took some shots of cosplayers.

Then met up with Eric, a friend and hung around with him, and my sister, Kero and Aya. Bumped into a lot of people. Nearly 3-ish – I went and grabbed a seat near the front. Wow there was definitely a lot of people. I watched a performance by Minami Kizuki, which was quite nice. I need to go and check out her cds now.. she has such a nice voice.. ^_^

Then came Ai Kawashima, she sang three songs with an encore of a fourth song. I believe I was in such a shock to hear her perform or the seating situation did wonders for my feet, that I could not hear her when she announced the songs she did.

But I know she sang

• Daijoubu
• Secret Treasure – in English

Thus concludes my visit for Sakura Matsuri this year!

Pretty busy now for Japan packing, and definitely not looking forward to this long work week ahead.