Mondo Books

By Daniel Ostrander

For those of us in Nagoya who enjoy a good book, our options have always been a bit limited. Of course there are a few bookstores in town with English sections, which are OK if you don't mind paying at least twice what you would back home. Many of the public libraries also carry books in English, but the selection is often small and a bit out of date. Then there's the Internet, though Amazon usually charges an outrageous fee for shipping to Japan and Amazon.co.jp doesn't have that great a range of English titles. So what is a komatta bookworm to do?

Lucky for all of us word nerds, there's a new shop in town with the potential to change our reading habits. Located near the Osu shopping arcade, Mondo Books is Nagoya's premiere second-hand foreign bookstore. The place is owned and operated by Joe and Mike, two North Americans who have who have big plans for this quaint shop. 

"Eventually, we'd like to think of it as a bookstore/community center where we can host events such as book clubs and signings," they tell me. But for now, they are giving the bookstore a preliminary two-month tryout to see if Nagoya can support just such an endeavor. So far things have been going well, and Mondo Books now offers a decent selection of fiction, non-fiction, used children's books, travel guides and nihongo study materials for those of you who are planning to brave the JLPT this December. 

With book sales steadily decreasing due to the Internet and new technology, such as the Amazon Kindle, there are many who fear that the book industry is a rapidly decaying relic. So why would anyone risk opening a book store in the first place? Mike is quick to dispel any fears of the death of the printed word: "Obviously the trend is towards scanned books and electronic content, but they still haven't surpassed the reading experience of a book. There's a large supply of books already in circulation, and they are not just going to disappear."

If you're leaving Japan and are wondering what to do with your own "large supply" of reading material, Mondo Books will be happy to make it disappear for you. I asked about their policy for buying and trading customers' books, but Joe admitted that they didn't have one. "We don't have a specific rule. There are some books that are very expensive and some that cost nothing, so it really depends on the book. We might offer you some cash, but, more than likely, we'll offer you a fair trade."

Seeing as they deal in used books, most of Mondo's titles are 30 to 70% cheaper than you'd pay at any other local bookstore. They also have a small but growing selection of DVDs, and several foreign magazines, including Time, Wired and, of course, Japanzine. Add to that a comfortable atmosphere and helpful staff always ready to offer suggestions, and you have something that has long been overdue in this town. 

For more information, you can check out at www.mondo-books.com for a sample listing of the books they currently have in stock, as well as a map with easy to understand directions. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to get back to my almost-new copy of Yukio Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (Mondo Books, ¥500). What a deal!

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