Maruzen - Kyoto Main Store

One of my favorite bookstores. They have the largest English section of any bookstore I've been to. They have books on all sorts of topics, and I was impressed with their wide variety of philosophy, biology, and other science related books. There's a huge selection of classic literature, which is quite rare for most bookstores in Japan. They also have a wall specifically for cookbooks, tutorial books (like for knitting and embroidery), photography books, etc. There aren't many people in the English sections, so it's really quiet most of the time, and you can just get lost in between the shelves admiring all the books you haven't seen before.

Large bookstore. Good sized English book section in basement, plus supplies (pens, pencils, notepads)

One of the best bookstores I've been to. The floor dedicated to Japanese language books is immense, and although the English language section is a fraction of the size, it is stocked incredibly well, particularly in the areas of psychology and philosophy. The stationery section is also very good. Unfortunately the Japanese language mangas are all plastic wrapped, so you can't browse them, but some of the English language mangas are open to browse, though the range is limited in comparison. Oddly, the section for translated Japanese literature was not sorted in any comprehensible way, though the range of authors was very good. My only complaint is that the prices here are somewhat high. After browsing for some time we stopped at the cafe on B2 for tea and a waffle with ice cream - delicious! The service was excellent and pricing of food reasonable.

Amazing bookstore spread across 2 floors within the basement of the mall.

Plenty of Japanese and English manga available. The English book section has a large collection of books to choose from.

There's a cafe within that we didn't try.

In case you’re wondering: yes, they do have a large section with english books. It’s a great shop to stock up your library while traveling. They even have a good selection of English translated Japanese books like Mishima and Murakami. Would recommend.

So many English books available for both adults and kids. Definitely worth to stop at if you're looking for English books (or Japanese books since this store is so big). Located on B1 and B2 of Kyoto BAL. There are occasionally foreign books sales a few times a year where one book is around 500 JPY or less.

Fantastic bookstore with a great environment. It has a nice café and every single type of book you can think of.

The best bookstore in Kyoto. It has an English section that puts bookstores in Anglophone countries to shame. The Japanese sections are very extensive too.

Best place to find books into Kyoto.
Very cozy place with a seat area to read books.
Also, it's a very good assortment of fountain pens with brands like Pilot, Platinum, or Sailor.

Huge book store, really excellent photography section (although almost exclusively Japanese photographers, which I loved) Fine Art section is really limited in comparison unfortunately.

The most delicious food and amazing people. If ever I come back to Niseko, I'm definitely stopping by!

It is located inside BAL mall.
It has large variations of English books. Lots of them are not sealed so we can have a peek on the inside. The bookstore has many chairs and a cafe for us to read comfortably

Of course, if you are a fluent Japanese reader, this place is known to you already. But if you're a visitor and looking for English-language books of all varieties (contemporary fiction, academic research, pop-non fiction, and more) this is also the place. Head to the lowest floor, and get lost in the stacks. On the higher floor, an amazing range of local and international stationery is available. Especially cool are the unusual extensions to common ranges like MD or Kokuyo that you can get lucky and discover.

Also the siphon coffee - Star Blend - in the cafe is the sweetest, softest, most delicious coffee in town for me! The Hayashi rice is delicious, too.

Great bookstore in Kyoto!

Good selection of books in English and a couple of other languages I think, also has some very nice stationary.

My new favourite place in Kyoto! A massive selection of books, cards and stationary. I loved it. There is also a cafe😊 Floor B2 has a good collection of English books too; they were quite expensive since they are imported so be warned📚

All, fine lot of books and njce cafe

Stellar selection of books and expansive stationary section. I could easily spend hours in here just shopping for stationary alone but have to contain myself or I’ll go overboard lol…

They have a decent collection of English books which is also nice. Located in the basement of Bal Kyoto, it’s easy to enjoy yourself in this emporium of products.

How I wish Maruzen was in Australia! Such a comprehensive collection on offer, and not just books but stationary too. Beautifully presented.

Great range of both fiction and nonfiction books in English and a few other languages.

They also have a wide range of foreign language (mainly English) children's books.