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| Kinokuniya from Paul Bakery at Ngee Ann City. |
Books Kinokuniya (紀伊國屋書店 Kinokuniya Shoten) is a Japanese
bookstore chain operated by Kinokuniya Company Ltd. (株式会社紀伊國屋書店 Kabushiki-gaisha Kinokuniya Shoten), founded in 1927, with its
first store located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It means "Store of Kii Province".
The company has its headquarters in Meguro, Tokyo.
Books Kinokuniya is known for the immense size of its bookshop. For
10 years its store in Ngee Ann City, Singapore, was the largest in South East
Asia, until the opening of the new Gramedia flagship store in Jakarta in 2007.
Fellow international bookstore chain Page One (headquartered in
Singapore) began as the magazine agent for Kinokuniya but later became
independent.
I have visited this place since it’s inception in the 90s. At that
time, within the same complex, there was also Maruzen, but it specialised more
on stationeries. When Maruzen finally closed, Kino (as it is affectionately
known) became my go-to place for all things literary. From art to design books,
from classic to modern literature, from text novels to graphic novels and even
right down to the most obscure of art materials, their independently sourced
merchandise is always a pleasure-haven for a geek like myself. Even when they
do not stock it, they can get it for you: they are like the Jewish-wonderland
for bookish nerds.
When I took on the role of a professional educator, their wide
selection, well curated and properly organised array of books for children from
0 to young adulthood became my extended playground.
Kinokuniya is a haven, in more ways than one, for a book-nerd, a
literary-geek. Now that they are downsizing, I hope they will still maintain
its character that we have all known and have grown accustomed to: a
pleasuredome for the literarily inclined…
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