How do I get to Jimbocho Book Town?

The nearest station is Jimbocho (Metro). Jimbocho Book Town is in Jimbocho, Tokyo.

How much does Jimbocho Book Town cost?

Jimbocho Book Town is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.

Shopping

Jimbocho Book Town

Stacks of secondhand books with handwritten title slips in a Jimbocho bookshop — Photo: Toomore Chiang / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Jimbocho is one of the largest second-hand book districts in the world: 130 bookshops on a few blocks, from rare ukiyo-e prints and Edo maps to 100 yen paperback carts on the pavement. Book lovers can spend a full day here.

More photos of Jimbocho Book Town

Corner bookshop with outdoor book racks on a Jimbocho street in Kanda — Photo: 運転太郎 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Entrance of the Jinbocho Book Center with its Book Cafe Work sign in Kanda — Photo: Haruhiko Okumura / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Nearest station Jimbocho (Metro)

Cost ¥

Time needed 2-3 hours

Best time Afternoons

Rainy day

Insider tip

Ohya Shobo specialises in old maps and woodblock prints. Most shops face north to keep the sun off the books, which you'll notice once you know.

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View on the interactive map Google Maps directions

What's on near Jimbocho Book Town

Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Jimbocho Book Town, from the weekly Tokyo events calendar.

Market Free

Kanda Used Book Festival

神田古本まつり

22 Oct to 3 Nov (dates to be confirmed) Yasukuni-dori, Jimbocho book district, Jimbocho

Time 10:00 to 18:00 Station Jimbocho (Toei Mita, Shinjuku, Hanzomon Lines), 1 min walk

The world's largest secondhand-book district puts hundreds of thousands of volumes out on the street each autumn, with stalls lining Yasukuni-dori beside the permanent bookshops. Old maps, ukiyo-e prints, and out-of-print photo books turn up alongside bargain carts.

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Outdoor bookstalls and browsers under the Kanda Used Book Festival banner in Jimbocho, Tokyo — nakashi from Chofu, Tokyo, JAPAN, CC BY-SA 2.0

Market On now Free

Kanda Used Book Festival (66th Jimbocho Book Festival)

第66回東京名物神田古本まつり

23 Oct to 1 Nov Jimbocho Booksellers District, Jimbocho

Time 10:00 to 18:00 Station Jimbocho (Toei Mita/Shinjuku Lines, Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line), 1 min walk

The 66th edition of the Kanda Used Book Festival takes place from October 23 to November 1, 2026, along the Jimbocho secondhand bookstore district. The organisers have set opening hours of 10:00 to 18:00 for the run of the festival. Hundreds of thousands of secondhand and antiquarian books are laid out on outdoor tables and stalls along Yasukuni-dori, making it one of the largest used-book events in the country.

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Exhibition On now

Jimbocho Theater: 80s Nostalgia III

神保町シアター「80年代ノスタルジアⅢ」

10 Oct to 6 Nov Jimbocho Theater, Jimbocho

Time Showtimes about 11:00 to 19:15, vary by film Station Jimbocho (Toei Mita, Shinjuku lines), 3 min walk

Film programme of 1980s Japanese films, each screening for one week with seven showtimes.

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Exhibition On now Free

Young Shigeru Mura (Mizuki Shigeru) and the War

秋の企画展「青年武良茂（水木しげる）と戦争」

1 Sept to 29 Nov Shokeikan (Museum of the war wounded), 2F exhibition room, Jimbocho

Time 10:00 to 17:30 (last entry 17:00); closed Mondays (open 12 Oct and 23 Nov), 13 Oct and 24 Nov Station Kudanshita (Hanzomon, Tozai, Shinjuku lines), exit 6, 1 min walk

A free exhibition at the national museum of the war wounded on manga artist Shigeru Mizuki's army years and his wounds in Rabaul, told through his drawings, personal papers and film.

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Exhibition Ends in 2 days Free

Meiji University and the Hill Top Hotel (Yamanoue Hotel) exhibition

企画展「明治大学と山の上ホテル」

3 Aug to 25 Oct Meiji University, Surugadai Campus, Academy Common B1 Special Exhibition Room, Surugadai

Time Follows Meiji University Museum hours Station Ochanomizu (JR, Marunouchi Line) or Jimbocho, about 5 min walk

Special exhibition on the university's ties to the Hill Top Hotel in Surugadai, shown in the campus special exhibition room.

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Smaller local events nearby

Jimbocho Book Festival Market
24 to 25 Oct · Kanda Suzuran-dori, Sakura-dori and the Jimbocho Mitsui Building plaza
Publishers set up book stalls along Suzuran-dori and Sakura-dori, with a children's book area and a food court that close at 17:00.
Free · 10:00 to 18:00 · Map · Source: Jimbocho Book Festival Executive Committee · 第34回神保町ブックフェスティバル(実行委員会主催)
Yasukuni-dori and Hakusan-dori illuminations in Jimbocho Illumination
1 Dec to 11 Jan (dates to be confirmed) · Yasukuni-dori from Senshu-mae to Sudacho crossing, and Hakusan-dori from the Iwanami Building plaza at Jimbocho crossing
About 100,000 LEDs on the Yasukuni-dori sidewalk planting through the book town, plus street-tree lights and Christmas decorations at the Jimbocho crossing.
Free · Evenings · Map · Source: Koho Chiyoda No.1652, 20 Nov 2025; organiser 南神実業会 · Yasukuniイルミネーション（靖国通り・白山通り）

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Nearby

Sabouru Cafe · right here Sabouru is a decades-old coffee shop in the book district that looks like a mountain hut, vines outside and carved wood inside. Curry Bondy Food · right here Curry Bondy is the shop that started Tokyo's European-style curry in 1973, on the second floor above a second-hand bookshop in Jimbocho's book... Isseido Booksellers Shopping · 2 min walk Isseido Booksellers is Jimbocho's landmark antiquarian bookshop, trading since 1903 from a stone-faced building finished in 1931 that came through... Sumatra Curry Kyoeido Food · 2 min walk Sumatra Curry Kyoeido is a basement curry house open since 1924, the oldest still going in Jimbocho's curry district. Ladrio Cafe · 3 min walk Ladrio is a 1949 kissaten in a narrow lane off Yasukuni-dori, dim, brick-walled and wood-panelled, and widely credited with bringing Vienna coffee,... Glitch Coffee & Roasters Cafe · 3 min walk Glitch Coffee & Roasters is one of the most respected specialty roasters in Japan, known for very light roasts of rare single-origin lots brewed as...

Around Jimbocho

Tokyo's book town, fuelled by curry and old coffee houses

Jimbocho is the largest second-hand book district in the world, with around 130 bookshops on a few blocks, from rare woodblock prints to 100-yen paperback carts. Between the shelves you'll find some of Tokyo's oldest coffee houses and the densest cluster of curry restaurants in the city, and that's what the book trade has run on for a century.

Jimbocho has 7 places on the Roam Tokyo map: 3 cafes, 2 shops and 2 restaurants. Read the Jimbocho guide.

Good to know

How do I get to Jimbocho Book Town?: The nearest station is Jimbocho (Metro). Jimbocho Book Town is in Jimbocho, Tokyo.
How much does Jimbocho Book Town cost?: Jimbocho Book Town is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
How long do you need at Jimbocho Book Town?: Plan for 2-3 hours.
When is the best time to visit Jimbocho Book Town?: Afternoons.

Stay near Jimbocho Book Town

Browse live availability and compare prices around Jimbocho.

Median US$236 a night across 78 listings within 1.8 km for a two-night stay a month out, sampled 20 October 2026. Cheapest quarter under US$177. See the weekly index for every neighbourhood.

See hotels near Jimbocho Book Town on Booking.comPrices are for the night of Saturday 24 October. You can change the dates on Booking.com. If you book, Roam Tokyo earns a small commission from Stay22 at no extra cost to you.