It's bedtime and you're keen for the little ones to get off to sleep so you can return to that DVD you left on pause. For their story, you try winging it again with a Japanese picture book, but the version you concoct this time is different to what you told them before. Pointing out that you've got the story wrong, the kids are suddenly wide awake. High time, you decide, to replenish your stock of English books. Here is a selection of where to shop for children's books in Tokyo.
A good place to begin is Maruzen, which more than a few parents regard as the city's best all-round bookstore for children's books, and its new building near Tokyo Station must qualify it as Tokyo's most attractive bookstore.
Maruzen certainly has an extensive selection, though the hefty prices will not endear it to everyone. The shop is good on large-format picture books, though my little research assistant was disappointed that the shop didn't stock a single book on dinosaurs. The section on English books pales beside the wonderful Japanese books on the floor below, which also has a large mat onto which kids can flop down to read.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.