Kinokuniya

Lunchtime today, I found Kinokuniya. The little story goes a little something like this.

So it’s 1:05, and I’ve finished the lunch I brought from home. Good food, but eating at the desk is just one of those things that keeps you thinking about work, not relaxing. I ate at the desk because there’s a microwave in the kitchen, but it’s one of those tiny bar-kitchens and you pretty much only have the option of sitting back at your desk. So anyway, I try to think of a way to spend the next 40 minutes without going straight back to work, because that’s what I’d done the last two days and it wasn’t what you’d call fun. I remember that I’d said to myself I’d find Kinokuniya in Sydney, so I idly google and find that it is at 500 George St, “The Galleries Victoria”. That’s right opposite the Queen Victoria Building, a designer-filled “mall”, but to say mall is to insult it. It’s classy.

Quick calculation. That’s at least 15 minutes of walk, before allowing for traffic lights. I’d be cutting it fine, and most likely just sighting and turning around. Hell with it, last couple of days I haven’t taken the full hour, why not today.

1:15. I walk out of my building, I imagine something like a small arcade or something. It’s got to be something in the vein of Japan Book Plaza in Melbourne, a small bookstore (closing, from last reports). There’s more Japanese here, sure, but nothing too much bigger can be supported by the Japanese alone, and how many non-Japanese are interested in a Japanese bookshop? Can’t be a big number.

It’s a decent hike. I’m at the north end of the city, about as far as the business part of it extends – further north is well touristed. QVB and Town Hall station, near my destination, is the southern end, with Chinatown beyond. The day is warm and pleasant, and there’s a fair amount of foot traffic to dodge between, but I’m making good time. Encounter a few walking walls, but overall I’m ahead. I get to QVB in about 12 minutes, and I stand consulting a map before thinking “No, wait, QVB isn’t quite 500 George…” I glance at the road signs, but they point only to further walking.

Then I realise I’m standing on the odd-numbered side.

I look accross the road, and there is The Galleries Victoria. It’s a modern shopping mall, although not in the usual mall sense, with a big airy courtyard inside. This isn’t what I was expecting at all. I consult the directory – Kinokuniya, level 2. That’s pretty much it for Level 2. Oh. I check my watch – it’s 1:30. I have time.

Entering Kinokuniya, I do a double take to make sure I haven’t accidentally gone into Borders. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s similar enough that I despair. Maybe they’ve taken the Border’s format, and they’re only here for Western profits. They’ll have a small and patronising “Graphic Novels” section, and that’d be it. I’d have to keep searching for Japanese books. I think this as I walk around, and as I return to the entry I still haven’t found the graphic novels even. Closest thing to Japan was the Asian History section. Then I look down towards the Architecture books and realise the store is bigger. I walk towards it, gradually getting more optimistic, and then I spot them. Manga volumes, stacked behind an information counter. They’re still only in english, however…

And then I round yet another corner, and in front of me is… half a bookstore with signs in Japanese. The books are all Japanese. The sign over the back wall says komikku, and there’s kanji I haven’t read in months, zasshi, over a stand with Japanese FHM. Ah-ha, I think to myself, I’ve found it. I’ve got a grin on my face a mile wide.

I make it back at 2:10. No-one notices.