@Wonder JG in Jimbocho: A Former Pachinko Parlor Turned Library-Sized Used Bookstore | Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks #5

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@Wonder JG, a used bookstore as spacious as a library, created by renovating the former pachinko parlor Jinsei Gekijo (“Theater of Life”). Owner Hiroshi Suzuki, who started out with a manga rental shop in Waseda, stocks everything from literature, philosophy and history to American comics and retro goods, and says he wants “more fellow used-book dealers.” Photographer ELLI heard about his passion for the world of secondhand bookselling. (From installment 5 of “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks,” Hon no Machi, October 2025 issue)

Hiroshi Suzuki, owner of @Wonder JG — Owner Hiroshi Suzuki (photos by Eri Ito unless otherwise noted)

“I want more fellow used-book dealers. I want young people to know what a fascinating world this is, too.”
—Owner Hiroshi Suzuki

This is the fifth walk by photographer ELLI, who says she “had almost no connection to Jimbocho.” This time she visited @Wonder JG (pronounced “At Wonder G-G”) in Jimbocho’s used-book district, and interviewed owner Suzuki about his passion for the world of secondhand bookstores.

Making the used bookstore a cultural hub

The shop: a vast bookstore in a former pachinko parlor

Exterior of @Wonder JG — An impressive storefront, remodeled from the former pachinko parlor Jinsei Gekijo

The spacious interior of @Wonder JG — The spacious interior

Opened two and a half years ago, @Wonder JG shatters the usual image of a used bookstore. With its vast floor, beautifully orderly shelves and a rich stock spanning a wide range of genres, it feels just like a library.

The stock: from literature and philosophy to American comics

@Wonder JG carries a wide selection centered on literature, philosophy and history, extending to American comics and retro goods. Meanwhile the @Wonder main store, also in Jimbocho, focuses on science fiction, mystery, film and the like. Visitors from abroad apparently buy the well-stocked used books and goods in large quantities.

The American comics section at @Wonder JG — The American comics section

Shelves of American comics — Shelves packed with American comics

Batman comics — Vintage American comics, too

The owner: 40 years since a rental bookshop

Owner Hiroshi Suzuki opened a manga rental shop (kashihon-ya) in Waseda 40 years ago. In the mid-’90s he opened Book Power RB in Kanda. The band boom had arrived, Japanese rock and pop such as Kenji Ozawa was sweeping the country, and the shop specialized less in books than in subculture: magazines, posters, concert programs and the like. Teenage girls and collectors who had never come to Kanda before began to gather there.

Tokyo once had 800 used bookstores; today there are 500. A used bookstore’s income comes not only from selling books, he explains, but also from buying and selling collections at the daily auctions where members of the antiquarian booksellers’ association gather, much like the Toyosu fish market. On top of the Kanda Used Book Festival held every spring and fall, Suzuki’s eyes light up as he talks about wanting to draw people from all over Japan and the world with a big event called the “All-Nippon Used Book Expo.”

Misato Hara, manager of @Wonder JG — Manager Misato Hara has run the shop since it opened. Beneath her gentle manner you can glimpse the passion she inherited from the owner

Shop information

▶Shop page (map and related articles)

Used Books @Wonder JG
Address: Kanda-Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (opened February 2023)
*Address and hours to be confirmed before publication
@Wonder Main Store (science fiction, mystery, film and more)
Address: 2-5-4 Kanda-Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo / Phone: 03-3238-7415
Nearest station: Jimbocho
▶View on Google Maps
*Address, phone and closing days are from the Hon no Machi member shop list (September 2026 issue). Hours and other details may change; please check with the shop before you visit.

Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks: All installments

▶See every installment and a map of the shops ELLI has visited on the series page

◀Previous: #4 Toyodaen & Daisen
▶Next: #6 Book House Cafe

#1　Luncheon
#2　The Adirondack Café
#3　Hasebe
#4　Toyodaen & Daisen
#5　@Wonder JG (this article)
#6　Book House Cafe
#7　Kissa Hotaka
#8　Mamekobo
#9　Banuken
#10　Asanoya
#11　Yamagataya Paper Shop
#12　Kissa Poupée
#13　Ochanomizu Hotel Shoryukan
#14　Kanda Awahei
#15　Daiki Shoe Store
#16　Sakaiya Sports
#17　Fuji Record Sha

Eri Ito (ELLI)
Photographer. In her Hon no Machi series “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks,” she visits shops in Kanda, Ochanomizu and Jimbocho every month.

This article introduces installment 5 of “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks” (photos and text by Eri Ito), published in the October 2025 issue (Vol. 6) of Hon no Machi, the community salon magazine of Kanda, Ochanomizu and Jimbocho.

▶Read the October 2025 issue of Hon no Machi (PDF, in Japanese)

Founded in 1980, Hon no Machi brings you the latest from Book Town every month, together with Jimbocho’s bookstores, publishers, cafés and galleries.

▶Back issues of our series are being published on our note page (in Japanese)

日本語で読む — Read this article in Japanese