We were on a mission recently in Austin. Along with our usual round of grocery shopping we made plans to stop by this magical store.
Kinokuniya is a bookstore originally from Japan. You can find them all over the world and they have quite a few locations in the United States. I’ve been to the ones in Oregon and Washington many years ago.
They are way more than just a bookstore though. Yes, they carry books. Books in English about almost any Japanese topic you can think of. Cooking, sushi, sake, architecture, samurai, religion, travel….all sorts of things. They also carry books written in Japanese including children’s books, magazines, and mangas (graphic novels, comic books). Of course, you can also find books with both that will teach you the Japanese language both spoken and written. They also have a pretty good children’s book section that includes books like Harry Potter and Rick Riordan’s novels.
What makes the kids, and myself, excited are all the kawaii and anime items they sell! You will find collectibles from Disney, Sanrio (Hello Kitty and friends), Gudetama, Sumikko Garoushi, Bare Bears, Mamegoma, Toki Doki and more. We saw stuffies, figures, stickers, books, and even Loungefly bags and backpacks!
They also carry an extensive line of Japanese anime stuff. We could spend a fortune in buttons, blind boxes, model kits, decals and more. Many of our favorites and some we had never heard of before were represented. Gundam, Sailor Moon, My Hero Academia, Pokemon and the list goes on. They even have a whole section with Studio Ghibli stuff. These include characters from Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and Howl’s Moving Castle. You really can get lost in there for hours…we have! You can also find yourself spending quite a bit of money here too if this is one of your “things”…it is for us! Like I said, DANGEROUS!
Another section that always has me anticipating our visits, and the reason we went this day, is their extensive stationary department. They carry some beautiful greeting cards, all types of journals, notepads and composition books. Painting supplies, gift wrapping, washi tape, and art and craft kits are some great reasons to go there too. They have an amazing assortment of pens. These are good pens by brands like Pilot. They even have some very nice and very expensive fountain pens, along with the fancy inks that go along with them.
I love Pilot’s Hi-Tec-C Coletto collection. They are the pens you had as a child with multiple different colored pens in one pen housing. These are an elevated version of those! You can choose the number of colors and exactly what colors you want. They are made by Pilot Japan so they are quality pens and write beautifully! And if you run out of one color, you just pop in a new ink barrel. So much fun and a great way to add color to your journal, letters or even just every day notes to yourself.
Watch the video as we take a tour of Kinokuniya in Austin. Maybe you’ll see some of your favorite anime characters there. I will also demonstrate for you the Hi-Tec-C Coletto Pen system and show you how easy it is to set up and use.
What items would you be most excited about? Do any of you collect anything? Do you bullet journal? Leave us a comment here or on our Youtube video. We’d love to connect with you.