As I've mentioned in my previous blogs, I've been going to Daikanyama almost every Saturday for my therapy session but I've not been exploring much about the place. One Saturday, I just decided to bring my laptop and look for a place to stay in the area. I settled to go to Daikanyama T-Site. It's my 2nd time here, the first time Apple and I just briefly checkout what's inside and eventually bought perfumes. We're such irresponsible and impulsive spenders, no? 😂 I even shared the first time I was here on this post.
Daikanyama T-Site isn't that far from the train station, and it's also not far from the clinic I go to. I was even surprised there's a shortcut going there.
Before looking for seats, I went inside the bookstore first. Daikanyama T-Site houses Tsutaya Bookstore, which is one of the most stylish and must visit bookstores in Tokyo. You'll probably understand why in the photos I'll be sharing.
It's also one of the biggest bookstores in Tokyo. T-Site is divided into 3 buildings. Each building has books of course. Besides books, there are also some stuff you can buy - that's why the first time I visited I got a perfume.
I went to the 3rd building first because that's where the English section is located. It was funny looking for the English books. I apparently went to the wrong section first and was enjoying the bookstore like a maze but the section I was looking for was just near the entrance. I still didn't consider my exploration a waste because I could see what kind of books they have.
They have great range of tech books but they're only in Japanese. If only there are English translation of these books, I would probably be buying them.
Aside from foreign fiction and non-fiction books, there are Japanese tales which I really like. I've always wanted to buy The Tale Of Genji but I'll just be patient for now because I still have a lot of books that need reading at home. Japanese tales are fun to read, it's not just for kids but they're for all ages. I've been looking for a book that has a Japanese text and an English text on the other side but I couldn't find them here so no buying of these books for now.
I wanted to go to the 2nd floor but I see signs that it's for kids. When I saw some adults going there, I got curious and thought it's opened for everyone so I went.
I now understand why many women were going to the 2nd floor. There was an exhibit of Tsuda Kenjiro here. If you're not familiar with him, he's the cool and sexy manly voice behind many anime characters including JJK's Nanami and YuGiOh's Seto Kaiba.
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I didn't check much on the kids section but there were benches over there where you could sit and read a book to your children. I also saw this Doraemon collectibles in one corner and some Ghibli collectibles in another.
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There were so many books on the 2nd floor and I was glad I took the courage to go up here.
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I spent most of my time in this elementary section where I could find Kanji (Chinese characters used in Japanese writing) books, which I'm so into. I found the Pokemon-themed Kanji book I bought in the Pokemon Store and some other books anime-themed. I even saw Detective Conan kanji book and I wanted to buy it.
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There were also music-related items you could buy here. There were records but I'm not so familiar with them. They're probably from old times but they look so new so I'm a bit doubtful.
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Every bookstore in Japan will never be complete without the Japanese mangas. They have a wide range of mangas and some contain the whole series. Some of the most popular ones like One Piece, Detective Conan, Jojo, and Dragon Ball which was so cool by the way with the manga forming the title, occupy most of the shelves. I couldn't decide what to get so in the end, I was not able to buy any manga.
On the end corner of the shelves, I found English translation of the mangas but I couldn't open them to verify. Buy at your own risk.
All the buildings are connected on the 2nd floor as there's a covered bridge. The 2nd floor of the 2nd building though was a paid lounge area so I couldn't go inside just to pass.
More books were found on the 1st floor of the 2nd building, particularly related to art and fashion. Besides that there was a section dedicated for leather goods and biking enthusiasts. I think this changes depending on the season. I'm just not sure.
I haven't checked what kind of books the first building has because I was distracted by the crafts and the kitchenware displayed there. They have nice plates which I was trying to avoid checking out because I might end up buying. LOL There's also Starbucks on the first floor. The 2nd floor is a paid shared lounge and I have no intentions of going there.
I tried to look for seats outside because the seats inside the building especially around Starbucks was a bit crowded and a little noisy. There were available seats outside but not tables and I needed a table so I could use my laptop. I decided to wait for a vacant seat inside Starbucks, though a bit noisy, just because that's the only area that you can use for charging gadgets. I got the seasonal drink at that time which was Booooo Frappuccino, their goth theme drink. It was so sweet by the way.
It's not just Tsutaya Books that's in Daikanyama T-Site. There were also restaurants, shops and galleries. I even found a Starbucks Reserve Roastery inside Prince, a bakery in the middle of T-Site.
I called over my partner so he could also explore this place. I convinced him by telling him we'll be working here, me in my laptop and him on his phone. The only problem was his phone's battery was almost dead and we couldn't find a seat in Starbucks so we decided to go to the 2nd floor lounge on the 2nd building so we could charge.
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This lounge is called Ajin, and they have a nice setup. There was a piano in one area, and it's really like a luxurious bar - it doesn't look like a lounge for work at all. I ordered hot tea and tiramisu and my partner ordered an alcoholic drink. My partner told me we'll go back here so I'll probably share more about that place in another post by the time we'll be back.
If you're fond of bookstores, I suggest going here in Daikanyama T-Site. According to their website, the theme they're going for is a library in the woods and I think they did a good job about that. What do you think? So far, this is the most sophisticated bookstore I found in Tokyo. I'll probably be visiting again but not sure when.
Happy #MarketFriday by @dswigle! I'm not sure if she's back but I hope so! It's been a while since I posted in this community and here's a comeback. Yay! Make sure to check out the community!
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
With love,
I noticed I wrote a couple of blogs in Daikanyama already. If you haven't read my previous blog about this area, Daikanyama is dubbed as the Little Brooklyn of Tokyo. Many celebrities even come here though I haven't seen them yet (or maybe I just couldn't recognize them). If you're interested in reading more about Daikanyama, here are my blogs about it.
| Title & Link | Remarks |
|---|---|
| Walking Around Tokyo's Little Brooklyn | Walking tour |
| Looking For Coffee In Daikanyama And Found Urth | Cafe |
| HyLife Pork Table In Daikanyama | Food |
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.