Kinokuniya Bookstore - Santa Monica

absolutely a delight, I would e bought more if I didn't have a budget. the staff was knowledge, cute and helpful. , thanks

The store is small compared to some of the other Kinokuniya branches I've had the pleasure of visiting, but it packs a punch. Has a little bit of everything. It is incorporated with a grocery store and a small food court area. Easy to find and very helpful staff.

Love this store! It’s inside Mitsuwa market. Great selection of books, pens, stickers, stationery. If you become pay to become a member you can get regular discounts. Many gift items. Japanese manga and other Japanese niche items. Friendly service. Easy to park.

Japanese bookstore in mitsuwa Santa Monica. This one is small, but a lot of manga and all other japanese books.

The store itself isn’t that big but they have a lot of stuff in that given space. Some people might find the clutter disorganized but I think it’s fine. It works cuz they keep it clean and relatively organized. I appreciate them trying to have variety of things available. So much fun stuff overall. Stationery selection is great, there are plenty of books and manga, and variety of gifts selection available. Also I love the fact that kinokuniya is located right next to the market. I always stop by both! Parking is decent depending on hour. During peak hours, it can be frustrating but if you avoid the busy hrs, it’s great!

I really liked this place. It has books, stationery, book books, toys and more. Perfect place to get a gift for someone or to get the materials to start journaling. The quality of the notebooks is impressive as expected from Japanese products. And after that you can enjoy a delicious meal in the food court next to it.

Great selection of JDM magazines, books, popular manga, and even Japanese language learning books. Too bad they didn’t carry HyperRev magazine, though.

This was such a cute store! My friends stopped into the Mitsuwa to use the restroom, and while I was waiting, I was exploring the bookstore. They sell perfume, magazines, cute accessories, anime/manga merchandise, and more! It’s not as big as the Kinokuniya in Little Tokyo, which makes sense considering that this location is inside of a supermarket.

If you're into pens and stationary Kinokuniya is the place for you. This store has a great selection of Japanese pens, and they have scrap paper so you can test them out. And on top of that the staff are super friendly and helpful. Highly recommend.

So we go to Kinokuniya all the time, and I usually like it a lot. However this time we had a problem with a defective item that was taped DIRECTLY ON TO THE PRODUCT which was very sticky. I found out too late why that was =because it was bent and unusable from the very moment you removed the tape off of the paper packaging. The very first thing they said was, "But did you use it?" and ignored us trying to explain what happened in attempt to using it. Then she asked the same question many times like Siri, and after that what she said was "But we can't resell this you see?" I was too upset and astonished how aggressive and rude they were (especially since this was before they even asked if we had the receipt), but why would she falsely very aggressively lecture how they can't cheat trying to resell very obviously defective item that they MUST HAVE KNOWN BECAUSE THEY TAPED ONLY THAT ONE AND NOT ANY OTHERS. Now that I think about it, that might have been what they did to the one we purchased initially. Finally they came to senses and let us exchange it, but this was very shocking, disappointing, shady, sleazy, immoral, inappropriate behavior as a person, needless to say, as a retail worker, which I have firsthand experience of as well.

As a kid I would love to come to Kinokuniya and check out the Japanese magazines. I loved looking at the manga selection and hoping my parents would get me something each time we visited. Its been many years since then and a lot of locations have been minimized to just a few. Once in a while I will come to check out the bookstore while visiting the Mitsuwa market. Its a good browse and time killer. There are a lot of books and items of interest but the prices are just up there for me to make a decision on the spot. Hoping there were more books available to preview as a lot of them are sealed, it would be nice to them out. The stationary section has a good amount of selection as well, for those looking for cute things and smooth writing utensils. Parking: medium sized private lot VERDICT: One and done

One of the most unique shops in LA. Fantastic selection for everyone. Love to visit, & with every visit I find great gifts and of course plenty of items for me!

I've actually only been to the one in Bangkok and was so happy to see there are a few here in Los Angeles. Last year, I was looking for Thai fiction translated to English and found many, many books. Now I just need to visit the Los Angeles outposts!

Great selection of stationery. Staff is pleasant most of the time but everyone has off days. The prices can be high depending on the item and it's popularity.

Today I was at Kinokuniya and politely asked the cashiers a question about the fountain pens because I cannot read the Japanese on the box, and the taller cashier made a very ugly face at me and didn't respond, and continued to stare at me. I was bewildered why this prompted such a response. The shorter cashier was more professional and helped me immediately. When I went to pay, the taller one was looking down, snickering, and said something under her breath to the shorter cashier in Japanese. They did not know that I understand Japanese. I asked her if she was laughing at me and she quickly said no but continued to snicker. I left feeling very uncomfortable with a bad taste in my mouth. Kinokuniya, I hope you train your staff to treat your customers with respect and dignity, and not make jokes and have side conversations in Japanese at the expense of your customers.

Not the biggest Kinokuniya we've been to but it had a lot of cute things! Really glad to have visited again after not being to one in years. To our surprise, they had a lot of really good Studio Ghibli and Pokemon merch which are kind of hard to come by. We browsed around and made our way through all of the aisles and ended up grabbing a few things. Wish they had more locations, especially in the valley. They're always in LA/downtown and parking is the worst! Luckily this one is inside of the Mitsuwa and has a pretty decent parking lot. Kinokuniya can be overwhelming because of the amount of stuff they have. If you're not really looking, you could miss some really neat items. Love this bookstore and hope they open one in the valley someday! IG: @ammysalamii

I was heading to the one on J-Town, but they opened 3 hours after I got there to shop and Iwas jonesing for some paper. Did some other stuff and was on my way up to Glendale and saw that this one was close to where I was. I stopped in and saw some great Rhodia paper and Lamy pens! I didn't even see that in the Kinokuniya on 6th Ave in Manhattan so I was totally jazzed! This was a store within a store, so book and other selections were small, but still quality and very cool. I was thrilled to get what I was after and didn't have to drive to Glendale, so it's a great stop!

Very nice and friendly , I had been blowing up their phone all day but they were nice when I got there

As mentioned by other reviewers, 5 stars for stationary selection for sure. I wasn't exactly looking but it feels like 75% of the store was stationary, cute Japanese knick knacks, and anime stuff. I suppose that's what sells at a "Japanese bookstore" these days. I did need to get a bento wrap for my son in the past (required by his Japanese preschool) and was able to get them here. However this time I was hoping to find some Japanese chapter books for my kids to read and was quite disappointed. Shipping costs through Amazon Japan used to be reasonable, but now outrageous presumably due to COVID, so we came to look here. There are lots of baby books and trendy books (like Sumikkogurashi and Oshiri Tantei), but nothing I was hoping for. They had a sizable Manga section, but this isn't the best location to come for if you're looking for a good selection of Japanese books that are not Manga.

I love this bookstore. Admittedly I don't come in for books, I come for the stationary and collectables. They have a HUGE selection of washi tape. So many options for gifts for friends. They have great blind boxes like Sonny Angel but were sold out this time unfortunately. They also tend to have lower priced collectables than other stores I've noticed. They also get PACKED on the weekends and it's hard to look at a lot of the items because the line blocks the aisle.

i was only visiting the area and found this store by chance SUCH a cute little store I'm not into manga so I was mostly there to look at stationery haha. Very large selection of pens, papers, stickers, washi, and cute little studio ghibli stuff. Place is very clean and organized as well. I would definitely go back and buy more if I lived in the area!

Kinokuniya has all your stationary needs! I love this place. It is very similar to Maido in the Mitsuwa Torrance location but this store has a bigger selection. They sell notebooks and pens galore! If you're looking for a unique gift, this is your place. Although it's not a good deal, they now offer a yearly membership for $25. You get 10% off most items and a $10 gift card if you spend $300...what a deal! -not really.. Nonetheless, I enjoy coming here and looking at their calendars, Moleskine inventory and random Pushnee cat collections. They also sell a ton of Manga, although I'm not a fan the inventory is quite impressive. Kinokuniya is fun and beats the pain of looking for parking at their Little Tokyo location!

This is NOT in Santa Monica. Its in LA, specifically in Mar Vista. Not large at all but still a great selection of gifts books and supplies. Friendly clerks, although not fully aware of stock and availability of book titles. Seems like mostly casual shoppers. There are over a dozen Kinokuniya stores across the US so it you shop regularly get a membership: at about $25 it saves you 10% on most purchases, and if you spend $300 you get a $10 certificate.

If you're a fan of pens, drawing, Japanese books, or notebooks this is the place for you. If you've never written on Japanese paper, you have no idea what you're missing. It's like the first time you had a good cocktail, a New York bagel, or gelato in Italy. It feels like writing on a baby's face. You'll never be able to write on anything else ever again. Plan to spend an extra 30 minutes browsing here before picking up ramen, groceries and Japanese candy.

This place is more like a Japanese stationery store than a bookstore but I'm not complaining because there is something for everyone here - cute trinkets, eye catching notepads, Manga, Moleskine and other notebooks, pens of various colors and tips, children's toys, collector items. I could spend an hour browsing the aisles and forget about the time. That's how enjoyable this store is. What brought us here was my NY-based brother's need to buy clear books as presentation materials. He prefers the Japanese brands because they're sturdier and made of better quality. On the day of his arrival, our original plan was to drive from LAX to Little Tokyo where Kinokuniya has a branch but trusty Yelp directed me to a location closer to LAX so voila, we found ourselves in the Centinela area instead. And yes, I do think it was a better decision for us because 1) Parking is free and aplenty. 2) It was an easy in and out because my brother readily found the items he was looking for. My only gripe is that the aisles are pretty narrow and I don't think I could have navigated our double stroller had I brought my babies with me. So no, this site isn't baby friendly. Nevertheless, I will still definitely consider visiting again. I just need to have an adult companion with me to help watch over the babies while I do some shopping. Review 19 for the Yelp Challenge 2018

Loved how they revamped this bookstore! Still located inside the Mitsuwa marketplace. * YES - Cleaner, neater, and an OCD's-dream-come-true given the apropos sectioning * YES - Cashier is right by exit (makes more sense) * YES - Offers everything that's fancy-stationary: notepads, paper, pens/markers, cards, stamps, etc. * YES - Comic books and Asian magazines section * YES - Offers gifts section: diningware, desktop figurines, housewares, socks, bags/totes, hair accessories, etc. * YES - Definitely a fun shop for kids (if you can get them to only pick out 1 item to buy).

My absolutely favorite go-to place for Japanese stationary and gifts! They carry my favorite brand of notebooks (Campus) and have a large assortment of pens. They are located in a small building near the entrance next to some cute cafes and indoor food plaza. There's also a grocery store with reasonably priced groceries.

This is a very attractive and cute Japanese book store. They have a nice selection of books, as well as stationary, small gifts and little toys. I do not speak or read Japanese but I needed a book in Japanese for a friend. I asked one of the employees if she could help me and the woman was very polite and professional. She took me to the section I needed and then proceeded to try to help me find specific books that would meet my needs. It took her some time but she found two for me to consider. After she left I browsed the section myself a bit longer and I found two more, ultimately buying three of the books (the two I found and one of the two she found). Compared to other Kinokunia book stores I've been in this one is pretty small, but it's still definitely worth checking out. The quality of their merchandise is high and they have so many things you can't find anywhere else.

I was in the LA area and had figured I'd go to a manga shop since I'd never been to one before, and I had several series on my mind. Everything there was organized so well, with English copies separated from Japanese copies, and series in alphabetical order. They also had really awesome stationery and illustration supplies and so many great notebooks! I ended up getting two manga volumes and a coloring book all for reasonable prices.

This places deserves so many stars. For anyone that loves art, books, or into anime this the place you NEED to go. The place is always kept tidy before and during COVID. The business takes measures to stop the spread of Covid with doing temperature checks, admitting few people in to promote social distancing, and having hand sanitizer in the entrance for your safety and convenience. This bookstore has the highest quality of items that are in pristine packaging. The price is reasonable since most of the items are imported and brand new. From pins, markers, journals, letter sets, manga, cook books, children's books, plushies, figurines, and more this is the place to check out. The staff are sweet and have phenomenal service. If you need help looking for an item, they will gladly check it for you or recommend you the next best thing in the store. My fiancé, friends, and I always love to shop here and support this store since it always meets our expeditions every time we visit. Always clean, organized, and shift their displays to show the latest and popular items. Also this place will hold pop up events, and overall is a great place to stop by if you're in the area!

Really I love this store. It has so much. They are running a student special 20% off in August. Two weeks ago when we come in, we received this discount. Tonight, we didn't because my 12 year old daughter didn't have her student ID. She does not have it because her school has not started yet. She's 12...she's obviously a student...why be a hardass about it??

Heads up: this is NOT a bookstore. Not really. It's a mini Japanese stationary & comic book store with a half-wall of Japanese language literature. Which is cool! Just don't mistake it for a normal mega-size Kinokuniya where they carry these *and* English titles. Fun for what it is.

Really close to my work place so I visit here on occasion when I go to the food court in the Mitsuwa. Parking lot is kind of packed and this Kinokuniya is small but it has all the essentials that I need like stationary and English manga.

It's so pretty in there! It's slightly pricey and I was looking for some jpop stop (they didn't have some, but it's okay) but I ended up getting some stationary!

This is a stationery and pen lover's heaven!!!! I don't read Japanese and I am not into manga so I am reviewing purely on the stationery selection. This place has a little bit of everything with cute/quirky gifts, craft/art supplies, Japanese & American stationery brands, and the most wonderful aisle of Japanese pens & pencils (my favorite aisle). They are pretty pricey but it is what you have to pay for the unique selection of items they carry such as wooden animal shaped washi tape dispensers, at $30 each they are expensive but oh so cute! Definitely give this place a shot if you are ever in Mitsuwa!

Great selection of high quality and colorful pens and markers. If you do lettering, journal or just love to doodle this place has everything you need to unleash your creativity.

The Kinokuniya location in NYC (where I live) is pretty great and I am there often but even this small location in the Mitsuwa Marketplace, was better. The stationery selection and items other than books/DVDs was greater even though the NYC one is larger. I really enjoyed this location and hope to visit every time I come to Santa Monica!

Love the new look. There's a ton of stationary and knick knacks now which I don't really care about. I come here for the magazines which, thankfully unlike the downtown L.A. store, they don't plaster with giant price tags. One star down since they don't open until 11 a.m. while the other Kinokuniyas open at 10. I know, minor gripe, but I hate having to battle the early lunch crowd for parking.

This is my favorite Japanese stationary and gift store. They have a very large selection of pens/pencils/art supplies/paper imported from Japan. They are constantly changing their inventory to keep up with the latest trends in pop culture and cute stuff. I can always find great gifts for friends and family. Unique finds, mostly imports.

After calling to make sure they had a book that I needed I drove 45 minutes to get there to find out that the salesperson had no idea what they were talking about then she tried to tell me to go to another branch and had no idea where in Los Angeles it was, this place totally sucks never ever going there again. Do not waste your time!

A really fun place to check out stationery products from Japan. Some of products are priced too high and are available at lower costs online. But it is fun to see the variety of products.