文喫

In 2013, on our last night in Tokyo, Oliver and I went out for conveyor-belt-sushi to Pintokona in the Roppongi district.

After supper we wandered up the street to the Aoyama Book Center Roppongi, where we spotted a copy of Tsuyoshi Takashiro’s book Life Packing, a delightful rumination that, among other things, is an unintentional recapitulation of George Carlin’s place for your stuff routine.

I’d seen the book earlier on our trip, neglected to purchase it, and regretted the decision. Finding it again gave me a second chance, and I purchased it immediately, which also gave me a chance to experience the lovely Japanese style for wrapping books in a bookstore in paper upon purchase.

I learned today that the Aoyama Book Center closed earlier this year and that its space is now occupied by the newly-opened 文喫 (Bunkitsu), a bookstore with a cover charge:

Once you’ve checked in, take your free cup of coffee or tea and wander endlessly through books on humanities, nature, art and design, all of which have been thoughtfully curated by the book lovers of Yours Book Store. Every book is for sale, but you can also spend an hour, 5 hours or the whole day and not buy a thing. And if you get hungry, they even have a small café that will sell you lunch or a light snack.

I’m inclined to jump on a plane right now; barring that, here’s a walkthru video from YouTube.