You find yourself standing before a large, brightly-lit store. The sign above you reads, “Favorite Books.” However, the English title belies the truth your surroundings reveal to you: you are in 浜松市北区, Japan.

You can see a strange midget with a round head beckoning you to enter.

>>enter store

As you enter the store, you are enveloped by a warm glow and the smell of fresh literature. Though you are surrounded by strange pictures and squiggly lines, a sense of familiarity comforts you, and invites you to relax and peruse the rows of shelves before you. Aisle 5 is marked with 少年コミック, while Aisle 4 contains 新刊書, 文芸書, 新書 , ビジネス, エッセイ, ノンフィクション.

>>go Aisle 5

You notice rows of books across the shelves. They are not organized in alphabetical order, of course, but rather by publishing company and/or magazine in which they appear. Under each company, titles are organized by kana: あかさたなはまやらわん. Within each set of kana, they are further organized あいうえお. Looking down the aisle of books, you see a ジャンプ sticking out. Jump Comics! You remember that they print Naruto, which you figure must start with a な.

>>search “na”

A number of volumes are lined up on the shelf. Most bookstores have ample supplies of a myriad of titles. Especially popular ones, such as Naruto or Bleach, can be expected to be fully stocked from Volume 1 up through the most recent release. You notice a few titles that are not so fortunate, such as Ninku, which only has Volumes 1,2,3,8 and 9 available.

>>go right

Moving along, you see Dragonball, which is easy to spot, since its title is in English lettering. Dragonball is one of the most popular comic series of all-time. Despite its age, you can find it fully stocked in almost any bookstore. Not only that, but the more recent re-releases, which are in larger, red books, are easy to find as well. Peeking inside a cover, you will find currently stocked volumes are the 100th edition or higher.

>>look down

Looking down, you see One Piece, another popular manga series. Like Naruto, they seem to be numbered in Japanese kanji, rather than roman numerals like many other titles. At the far right of the bottom shelf, you see a couple unnumbered books as well. Another thing popular manga titles receive is compilation works. These often contain plot synopses, character profiles, and many other treats for hardcore fans.

>>go south

You are still within the manga section, but something seems different. This is the area for 少女 comics. A lot of the titles here are more uniform: red font on white covers. The genres here cater more to a female audience, with a lot of romance and emphasis on female protagonists. Marmalade Boy and Nodame Cantabile are examples of what you will find here.

>>turn corner

As you turn the corner, you come to the rear aisle of the store. In a box on the left, you can see a collection of wall charts sticking out in long, rectangular packaging. These are helpful for studying Japanese writing systems, especially kanji. You can find a separate chart for each year of elementary school, as kanji are often categorized by when they are taught to children. However, your attention turns to some familiar texts on the right-hand shelf.

>>look right

This section is labeled, ゲーム戦略本. You notice a the bulk of these books are shaped differently than others. They bigger than manga in size, but smaller than magazines. They are often times very thick as well. These books are grouped by gaming system, but larger magazine-sized guides have to be placed on separate shelves, or at the bottom.

>>search “Final Fantasy”

There are a few Final Fantasy titles here, including three books from the 20th Anniversary set. Those tomes contain an absolute encyclopedia of knowledge regarding every Final Fantasy game within the main series. So far, they encompass, Characters, Scenarios and Battle. Final Fantasy XI guides used to be this size, but after the 2005 World Report, most Final Fantasy XI strategy guides became larger-sized books or mooks.

>>look down

Below the shelves, some bright red stickers catch your eye. These particular books are labeled 見本. These sample items are free to be browsed at one’s leisure. You find the label to be somewhat deceiving however, as customers are more than welcome to browse through most of a bookstore’s goods. Many times the interior of a bookstore will look more like a library, with people standing around engrossed in various titles.

>>go west

On the wall in front of you is a collection of reference materials. You get the feeling that this shelf alone gave birth to the thriving electronic dictionary industry. There are dizzying array of titles ranging across a variety of subjects. 国語辞典, 漢字字典, 四字熟語辞典, カタカナ新語辞典, 漢和辞典, 英和辞典, 古語辞典.

You begin to feel faint…

You awaken to the sound of footsteps around you. You appear to be in the magazine section of the bookstore. A young girl eyes you suspiciously.

>>look magazines

You see many magazines encompassing a plethora of hobbies and interests.

>>search “games”

A monster blocks your path!

>>punch lady

You make short work of your bespectacled tormentor and approach the magazine rack. Here you can see a variety of titles for both PC and console gaming enthusiasts, not to mention other electronics. A keen eye can spot these titles familiar to Final Fantasy XI fans: ConnectOn! and ヴァナディール通信. The well-known gaming magazine, ファミ通 is also present.

>>look magazines

Those are definitely magazines.

>>take magazines

You pick up copies of ConnectOn! and Vana’diel Tsuushin.

>>look

Off in the distance, you see a register.

>>go register

Above your head, you notice a sign shaped like the symbol for Yen, the local currency.

>>look

The two owners of the store appear ready to assist you with your purchase.

>>put money in tray

You place your money in a small plastic tray on the counter. These trays, which are used in practically every retail store in the country, come in any number of colors and styles, but mostly retain that basic rectangular shape. Money is placed in the tray, collected by the cashier, and then the receipt is returned along with the proper change via the tray.

>>exit store

You turn towards the exit and leave the store. As you pass the Christmas tree, you sigh, realizing these pictures have existed for months now, and only finally have been put together into an article.

You bid Favorite Books a fond farewell, and hope you will have the opportunity to return someday. Also, it’s now daytime for some reason.

The owners of Favorite Books are friends of Naomi and me, who graciously allowed us to present this tour. Big thanks to Yukihiro店長 for letting me run around snapping pictures after hours.

I hope you, the readers, enjoyed the little tour as well. If you have any comments for Favorite Books, I’ll be sure to pass them along!

FAVORITE BOOKS

www.favoritebooks.jp

フェイヴァリットブックス

〒434-0043 静岡県浜松市浜北区中条1391-1
TEL 053.586.5004
OPEN 10:00〜22:00（日曜日のみ 10:00〜19:00）
不定休