Free books in Japan
I have recently come across an interesting concept to keep me in books while I am in Japan. In preparation for my stay I have been hoarding books like crazy. Why? Because English books in Japan aren’t cheap. BookCrossing is a new site where you can leave your books in a public locations for others to pick up for free - yes, I said free!
There website defines it as follows:
n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.
(added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in August 2004)
But it gets even more fun because you log you book via the BookCrossing site and it assigns and ID number. You place a sticker with the ID number on the books and the next person picks the book up can enter the ID number in the computer and you can track you book all over Japan or the world for that matter! The site has a world map of various catches and releases.
I came across this via a post by Maethelwine at Wide Island and decided to do a search for books in Japan. There are 227 books currently in Japan and the folks of Osaka have the most at 27. Not all of the books are in English but if you are near the Todaimae-Station in Tokyo, Tuesdays with Morie was released into the wild on January 25th. If you can read Kanji, check out the Japaneses version of the site.
This is a great concept and I will definitely be ‘releasing’ some of my newly hoarded books after I have read them. Take note anyone in the Chiba area….
on 5 February, 2008 on 10:57 pm
Pass on Your Book and Find New Ones for Free
Here’s an introduction to a site where you can find out where to pick up free books in Japan and pass on books that you have already read. If you love to read you might want to join in the fun.
on 6 February, 2008 on 6:56 am
WOw!
This is a neat idea.
One of my biggest complaints about life in Japan is that there are no good libraries. Japanese libraries tend to be small, usually have no English books, and they don’t even have computers.
In Tokyo there are a few English book stores. Kinokuniya has probably the best selection (Shinjuku west exit). Then there is the blue parrot, foreign owned used English book store http://www.blueparrottokyo.com .
This bookcrossing idea is interesting (turning the whole world into a library). It requires a spirit of sharing and fairness though. Even a idealist like me would have to admit there are some potential problems with that equation. The cynic in me thinks it is a good way to add some free books to my collection
j/k
on 6 February, 2008 on 7:30 am
Tori;
I agree with you about the library situation in Japan and I try and restrain myself in the book stores as I always feel like it’s a splurge to pay the prices that are charged. The thought of book hoarding did cross my mind when I heard about this but unless I really love a book I tend to pass it on or donate it eventually anyway.
I didn’t know about blue parrot so I will definitely have to check them out - thanks for the tip!
on 8 February, 2008 on 5:23 am
No problem. I like passing on tips (especially since you’ve shared a good one with me).
I agree with you about book store prices. The way I read books I need a library really. I usually read several books at the same time. It could become an expensive habit if I bought all of my books at full price.
This post made me realise something. I know Amazon.com lists used books (from third party vendors) and it seems some of them even offer international shipping, but that takes “3 to 6 weeks ( may take 8 to 12 weeks due to customs delays).”
Amazon.co.jp has some English books though and that made me think that they might have used English books listed as well. I checked and they do.
The great thing about that is delivery is much faster than from Amazon.com. The page with shipping details says that delivery is 4-7 business days (4~7営業日) if the seller is in Japan and 12-17 (12~17営業日) if they are outside of Japan (looks like they most of these sellers are in places like Guam)
The only problem with purchasing from Amazon.co.jp is the site is in Japanese (you can search in English though). Rikai.com might help with that though.
on 8 February, 2008 on 9:21 am
I will have to check that out Tori but my reading skills are almost non-existent! I am brushing up on my Katakana and Hiragana which have gotten quite rusty in the ten years that I have been living outside Japan. Hopefully it will come back quick…