It’s been ten long years since Kyoto’s best bookstore closed it’s doors… but now Maruzen is coming back! Kyoto’s legendary bookstore occupied a special place in the hearts of expats because of it’s huge English language book section. Locals too were sad to see the historic shop close down, for Maruzen had occupied a spot on Kawaramachi Street since 1907.

The new Maruzen store will occupy two basement floors of the renovated Bal building which reopens on August 21st. Apparently it will include a cafe, western books and stationary – and it is going to be huge. This is a team effort with Junkudo, so we will have to wait and see if the new shop really has that old Maruzen magic. I’m going to be there on August 21st to find out though, and I’m sure a lot of other Maruzen fans will be there too. You can find a map for the Bal building and other details on the Bal Kyoto website here: http://www.bal-bldg.com/bal-kyoto/

Thanks to Mewby for giving me the hot tip on this breaking news!