Japan’s Trendiest Bookstore is Opening in Houston Area — and It Wants to Scare You: Horror Storytelling, Anime Mania and More Beckon

BY Annie Gallay // 02.07.18

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Kinokuniya fuses Japanese and American pop culture. Now, it's opening a new bookstore in the Houston area.

An Anime Wonderland takes over the Kinokuniya in Plano.

The global cult favorite also embraces regional works.

Kinokuniya sells No Face merchandise, an iconic character from Miyazaki's beloved Spirited Away.

Pop-ups and events are half the fun of Kinokunkya, like Otaku-toberfest in the Carrollton store.

Smiski, "tiny creatures that live in corners," take on a full-size form at the New York Kinokuniya.

Kinokuniya fuses Japanese and American pop culture.

Bookworms and the culturally curious have reason to rejoice. Kinokuniya, a Japan-based bookstore chain, is opening up a new store in the Houston area.

Yes, an actual new brick-and-mortar bookstore is opening in 2018.

With traditional English books and Japanese manga, you can read left to right or right to left at the new bookstore. Take your pick. Kinokuniya is moving into Katy at the Katy Grand shopping center, which is currently anchored by a 19-screen Cinemark movie theater.

The shop’s array of Japanese and English-language reading material is fitting fodder for one of the most diverse regions in the United States. Kinokuniya focuses on the fusion of American and Japanese pop culture.

The bookstore chain already made a splash in Texas, with its flagship Lone Star State store opening in Dallas suburb Carrollton in 2016. A Plano follow-up came in 2017.

The Plano location marked Kinokuniya’s 12th bookstore in America. The international power revealed in November that it would open an Austin location later this year. There are more than 80 Konikuniya bookstores worldwide.

Elizabeth Anthony

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ASSAEL

OLYMPIA LE-TAN

EMILY P. WHEELER

MARIA OLIVER

KATHERINE JETTER

MEREDITH YOUNG

LEIGH MAXWELL

MEREDITH YOUNG

The wide range of titles includes Japanese manga, anime, popular character-related books, cook books, children’s books, Japanese-English guidebooks, and more. Some of their manga and anime books feature additional English translations, and some have never been released in English before now. The Japanese language to English-language book ratio is roughly three to seven.

And don’t discount video games, art, stationery, products from Japan and the U.S. alike, along with exclusive merch from Kinokuniya’s various collaborations with well-known Japanese brands.

The global bookstore franchise hosts events like horror storytelling, anime meet-ups, and book signings, to name a few. Konikuniya was founded in Tokyo in 1927. The chain began importing English books in 1949.

Now, it’s making a huge move in Texas. Should Barnes & Noble be worried? Suddenly, local book lovers have even more options.