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Subject: [INFO] Anime/Manga NYC Shopping Guide Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime.info,rec.arts.anime.marketplace,rec.arts.manga Keywords: monthly informative posting From: starbuck@cybercomm.net Reply-To: starbuck@cybercomm.net Followup-To: rec.arts.anime.marketplace Approved: anime-info@cybercomm.net Archive-name: anime/NYC Anime/Manga Shopper's Guide to New York City -------------------------------------------- A Rutgers Anime Publication 09/17/97 This FAQ, as well as the other anime/manga newsgroup FAQs and info articles written by Steve Pearl, are available from the Official Anime/Manga FAQ page at http://www.cybercomm.net/~starbuck/FAQ.html The FAQs on that page are always the most recent version (The monthly posts are posted directly from that directory!) This article is copyright (c) 1995-96 by Steve Pearl. This article can be freely distributed for non-commercial use, as long as all credits and notices remain intact. If this is used in any publication, including APAs & CD-Rom Collections, a copy must be sent to: Steve Pearl PO Box 11044 New Brunswick, NJ 08906-1044 Please send all additions/corrections/comments to: Steve Pearl PO Box 11044 New Brunswick, NJ 08906-1044 Internet: starbuck@cybercomm.net This is a guide to the variety of anime businesses that can be found in New York City. For the purposes of this guide, I am only listing businesses which carry actual anime and manga & not every comic shop that carries the latest Viz or Dark Horse manga-comic. For a City that is called the 24th Ward, (As in the 24th ward of Tokyo, which has 23 wards. Remember Megazone 23?) there is not much anime to be found. Interestingly enough, most of what is out there can be found on a very walkable stretch along 5th Avenue from 42nd Street to 57th Street. **This Guide is currently broken into 4 parts: The 5th Avenue Japanese Bookstore tour (Including Yaohan Plaza), Chinatown, other stores of interest, and a list of good and inexpensive Japanese restaurants. Future editions of the guide will integrate the three sections better as well as include street maps, a transportation guide, and other goodies. We start our expedition at the Port Authority, located at 40th Street. For simplicity's sake, we will start outside the Southern Terminal (for reasons which will become apparent by the end of the article) Walk up 40th street until you reach 5th Avenue. Make a left and walk about 4 blocks to 44th Street. To your right, up East 44th Street) there is OCS Bookstore at 5 East 44th Street. It is a small Japanese bookstore with a good selection of manga and magazines. From in front of OCS bookstore, (facing the bookstore) to your right, the street is blocked by a tall building. On the top of the building, you can read "Met Life" (used to be "Pan Am") Walk that direction until you hit Vanderbilt Ave. Do not cross the street. Instead, turn left. Walk forward as you look to your left. You will be walking a slight upward hill. At the end of the block, you will find the entrance to Asahiya Bookstores. The actual address is: 52 Vanderbilt Ave. It has one of the best selections of manga in the area. They carry anime (both original Japanese and American released), anime-related CDs, magazines, puzzles and other related merchandise, although it's nowhere as many as now defunct Books Nippon. After shopping there, We return to 5th Avenue and continue our quest for Manga & Anime. On 5th & 46th, there is a store called HMV which carries Music & Videos. They have a food selection of American anime VHS tapes, a fair selection of anime LDs, and a few import LDs. (Not too many, since they cater mostly to tourists at that location) There are also HMV stores at <>. *Begin Optional Side-trip* If you are so inclined, when you walk past 47th Street, you can hang a right and walk to the Japan Society at 333 East 47th Street. Just remember that it is a ways down. (You are essentially starting at 1 East 47th Street because 5th Avenue is the Divider between the East and West Sides of NYC). If you do decide to go visit the Japan Society, you will, at some point, cross Park Avenue at about 250. If you wish, you can continue down to the Westvaco building at 299 Park Avenue, between East 48th and East 49th, where the Japan Information Center/Consulate General of Japan is on the 18th floor. *End Optional Side-trip* Continuing down 2 more blocks from 47th Street to 49th Street, hang a left onto West 49th. Almost right in front of the Rockefeller Center Skating rink (site of the famous Christmas Tree), at 10 West 49th Street is Books Kinokuniya. They carry anime magazines and, on the second floor, they have a nice manga selection. They also carry some of the Viz and Eclipse manga translations as werll as some american anime VHS tapes. They also have a pretty good CD selection with some anime related artists and a few anime soundtracks. *** Begin Optional Side-trip II*** As you continue along 5th Avenue, you will pass 630 5th Avenue (the tall building with a big globe sculpture in front of it) between 50th and 51st Streets. In room 2101 on the 21st floor is the JNTO (Japan National Tourist Organization). They have all sorts of free literature, maps, travel and language guides, etc. If you are ever interested in travelling to Japan or just want to read about it, this is the place to stop into! *** End Optional Side-trip II*** Books Nippon (RIP) On 115 West 57th, there used to be a New York City branch of Books Nippon. They closed February 1993 and will be sorely missed. There was a sign on the door after they closed saying that any questions can be sent to: BOOKS NIPPON c/o NIPPAN DAIDO 522 Mamaroneck Ave White Plains, NY 10605 The largest anime source in NYC is not located along the 5th Avenue Japanese Bookstore walking tour but is well worth going to. It is Anime Crash. Anime Crash opened in 1995 and has the largest selection of anime & anime related merchandise in the area (though not much original manga at all) They are located at 13 E. 4th Street (across the street from Blockbuster Music). Around the corner from them is a Tower Records/Video. The Tower Video has a decent selection of American anime tapes, some anime LDs, and *no* imported LDs.Another Japanese store of interest is Zakka Books. Zakka is located at 510 Broome Street and is run by some of the people that ran the old Books Nippon. The store has a decent selection of manga, anime magazines, tapes, models and other merchandise. They sell older magazines at a discount so if you have any holes in your collection, check here! All in all it amounts to an interesting afternoon's shopping spree, again, not much for the 24th ward. But we are not finished yet. Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, is a Japanese mall called Yaohan. Not only do they have other sources of anime, but they are easily accessible via a shuttle bus which travels to and from Yaohan and the parking lot outside the Southern terminal of the Port Authority. (And you thought I was just arbitrarily choosing it as our starting point.) The shuttle bus leaves about every hour. (There is a longer gap during rush hour to allow for the increased travel time). And it only costs $2 each way! At Yaohan Plaza (595 River Road, Edgewater, NJ), there are a variety of stores. There is a large store containing several smaller stores all connected. We have another Kinokuniya, which is a smaller version of the one at Rockefeller Center. They carry manga, anime magazines, some "Art of" books, and both anime & pop music CD's. All in slightly smaller quantities than the NYC store. Moving along, we come to the Yaohan Supermarket. Inside the store is another variety of small shops in addition to the supermarket proper. We have a really cool and relatively inexpensive food court, a cigarette place called Affinis, Inc that also sells CD's. (They can special order CDs if you know the order number. Their prices are quite reasonable.) Recently moved there is JBC video. They have a nice selection of Dramas, Sports, movies, and of course, anime. They rent them to members, ($30/year to join, have no clue to the rental rates, but they are usually much cheaper than your local Blockbuster) but you can purchase any tape for $15. They carry several ongoing series such as Sailor Moon Sailor Stars and Evangelion. There is an information desk in the Yaohan supermarket where you can pick up a bus schedule for their shuttle bus. As an alternate plan, one could drive to Yaohan (Free parking!), shop there, and use the shuttle bus to enter and leave the City. Just be careful not to miss the last bus (7:30pm leaving NYC, 8pm leaving NJ). Bus schedules are available at the Yaohan information desk in the main supermarket. To get to Yaohan Plaza, take the NJ turnpike all the way to the GWB. Get off at the LAST exit. This is the Fort Lee exit. This will put you on Lemoine Avenue. Make a right onto Main street when you get to it. This will take you down to River Road. I believe it actually merges w/ River Road. To get there from the City, take the George Washington Bridge to NJ, get of at the Fort Lee exit, and follow the above directions from there. -------------------------- Stores and business listed -------------------------- New York- Anime Crash 13 E. 4th Street New York, NY 10003 (212) 254-4670 (212) 254-4730 Asahiya Bookstores 52 Vanderbilt Ave. New York, New York 10017 (212) 883-0011 - Voice (212) 883-1011 - Fax Hours- HMV address phone hours HMV address phone hours Kinokuniya 10 West 49th Street (212) 745-1461/1462 Hours- 10am-7pm 7 days a week (Excepting certain holidays) Magazines, manga, CD's (No soundtracks but some anime related stuff), comics. OCS Bookstore 5 East 44th Street (212) 599-4502 Hours- 10am-7pm Mondays through Friday Magazines, manga, comics. Zakka 510 Broome Street New York, NY 10013 (212) 431-3961 (212) 431-5549 - Fax Hours- Books, magazines, tapes, models, manga --- Yaohan Plaza 595 River Road, Edgewater, NJ --- JBC videos- Hrs: M-F 11:00-8:00; Sat 9:30-9:00; Su 9:30-8:00 (201) 941-7622 Located inside the main supermarket, Video rentals. Anime. Can rent or buy for $15. Kinokuniya- (201) 941-7580 Books, manga, magazines, CDs, tapes. Affinis, Inc (Across from Cashiers in HyperMarket) Fair selection of Japanese CD's. No anime related but can special order. . Chinatown --------- Anime is very popular in Taiwan & Hong Kong, so naturally there are plenty of anime related merchandise to be found in Chinatown. Tips on getting to Chinatown from elsewhere in the city: First rule: You never go to Chinatown by bus. The trip takes forever. Second Rule: Always take the train. Directions by train (subway): >From GCT: 6 (local) train down to Canal St. station 4 and 5 (express) down to 14th St. - transfer to the 6 4 and 5 (express) down to Brooklyn Bridge - transfer to the 6 _UPTOWN_ Alternate Routes from Times Square (take shuttle or 7 train from GCT): N or R trains to Canal St. station A, C, E trains to the _2nd_ Canal St. station 1 or 9 to the _3rd_ Canal St. Station (IND) Canal St. doesn't cover Chinatown completely. For example, to get to Comics World, it's easier to take the B or D trains down to Grand Street and walk a few blocks than the 1/4 of a mile walk from the IRT Canal St. station. Tips for driving in from outside the City: 1. Drive in on Sunday and park near the Metropolitan Museum (street parking, these are high class neighborhood, thus safe for your car) then take the subway down to Canal St. Parking on Sunday is FREE all day. The catch is you have to go there early. This is especially suitable if you want to go to NYC a whole day without finding parking along the way. You just park there, and use subway to get around. 2. If you only in for a couple of hours and Chinatown is your focus, then go early, around 10:30am or 3pm to Chinatown area. After taking the Holland Tunnel, take Canal St. all the way down until you see the entrance to a Bridge (Manhattan Bridge?), make a right turn and follow the sign of Municiple Parking, you are ended up in a great parking lot under police building which is safe all day, and cost only $4 ALL DAY max!. You can stroll from there to East Broadway (5 min.) to some anime stores or to Chinatown for a dim sum or dinner. ALWAYS go on Sunday, the parking that I mentioned only in effect on Sunday. Business Listing ---------------- Comics World 88 East Broadway, Unit 145 New York, NY 10002 212-966-2218 - Basically a anime rental store, similar to the old Tokyo Video x Anime tapes usually dubbed in Cantonese x If not dubbed, then subbed in Chinese x Or can be both - Lots of Chinese language manga - Models - Posters - Stickers - CDs (the cheapest prices around!) x Manufactured by SM Records x Better prices than other stores x Lower selections though x However, can get what you request - LD for rental or special order - TOTORO stuffed animals!!! (wish I had money for one) - Subtitled anime (in English) for sale x At the momemnt, they have only 7 titles - Various other anime items... - They can also special order stuff from Japan Tai Model Club 88 East Broadway, Unit 149 New York, NY 10002 No phone... - Anime Rental Store... x Anime tapes usually subbed in Chinese - Tapes for sale - Models for sale x Terminator heads x Aliens models, etc... - Tons of CDs on display for sale x Japanese pop x Anime CDs x Anime CD-Rom games x BUT all manufactured by SM Records - Anime T-Shirts!!! - Various other anime items... Wah Kue, Inc. 58 Mott Street New York, NY ????? ??? phone - Just a model store - Lots of model building stuff for sale - Has Gundam and Robotech models for sale "The Happy Record Company" "kwai lert chung pien gung tssu" 2 Elizabeth St New York NY 10013 (212) 732-3828 [Anime CDs, Posters] Citicomics Corp 8 Elizabeth St NY NY 10013 212-964-9076 Visual Arts Photo Center 17 Elizabeth St NY NY 10013 212-274-8288 (Anime Videotapes for sale/rent. Many subbed in Chinese) . Other NYC businesses of interest to Anime/Manga fans ---------------------------------------------------- Footlight Records 113 East 12th St. New York, NY 10003 212-533-1572 (These guys specialize in out of print, hard to get soundtracks for all types of movies. Most of their stuff is records, but they do have a really good selection of CD's for movies (actually, the CD selection is better than the record selection, but pales compared to the other big outfits downtown such as Tower Records). They've got a small batch of animation soundtracks mixed in with the other Japanese film soundtracks (Godzilla, Kurosawa films, etc.). Their prices are pretty much what you would pay for in Nikaku, but they occasionally have a few gems for really great prices. Not a great selection, but not any worse than many other places.) . Daikichi Kitchen This is a chain of low cost Japanese Sushi and Soup. There is one right around the corner from Asahiya on 45th between Vanderbilt and Madison, as well as at the Yaohan Plaza. Highly recommended. Yaohan Weekend Bus Schedule First Depart NYC Arrive NJ shuttle 08:15am 08:45am Start Depart NJ Arrive NYC 08:45am 09:15am 09:15am 09:45am 09:45am 10:15am 10:15am 10:45am 10:45am 11:15am 11:15am 11:45am 11:45am 12:15pm 12:30pm 01:00pm 01:00pm 01:30pm I I 04:15pm 04:45pm (new extended times on Saturday only) 08:15pm 08:45pm 08:45pm 09:15pm * two shuttles run simultaneous on Saturday, Sundays and Holidays