K-Books


K-Books is a chain of used goods stores in Japan. It specializes in otaku- and hobbyist-related items, including anime goods, manga, dōjinshi, and voice actor and idol goods.

History

K-Books was founded in 1992 as "Kenchan no manga juku 1gouten", a secondhand manga store located in Sugamo, Toshima, Tokyo. It opened a second location in Sugamo in 1994, and incorporated as K-Books that same year. Locations were opened in the Tokyo neighborhoods of Kichijoji, Ikebukuro, and Akihabara in the mid- to late 1990s. Its first locations outside of Tokyo were opened in Osaka in 2002, and Nagoya in 2017.
In February 2019, K-Books ceased consignment sales for dōjinshi at its dōjin store in Ikebukuro after 15 years.

Products

K-Books sells variety of secondhand otaku and Japanese pop culture goods, including dōjinshi, manga, novels, dolls, cosplay items, anime and video game goods, as well as voice actor and idol goods. Several K-Books locations specialize in specific kinds of goods or genres, including yaoi, Vocaloid, 2.5D musicals, and K-pop.
In addition to its retail business, K-Books operates several cosplay restaurants and bars: Ikemofu, a costumed animal café; Swallowtail, a butler café; and Bar Blue Moon, a nighttime bar operated by the butlers of Swallowtail. It also operates Atis Collection, a yaoi audio drama production label.

Major locations

K-Books Akihabara Hon-kan is located at Akihabara in the Akihabara Radio Kaikan building. It specializes in items aimed at men, such as moe and Virtual YouTuber goods. K-Books Chara-kan is located in Chiyoda and specializes in goods from Weekly Shōnen Jump media properties, such as My Hero Academia and . K-Books Ikebukuro Doujin-kan is located in Ikebukuro on Otome Road, and specializes in boys' love-related items.