Final chapter: The last English language bookstores in Jimbocho

It's hard enough trying to sell a Japanese book in Tokyo these days, let alone a secondhand English-language book. The market for English books in Tokyo is dwindling, alongside the rest of the publishing industry. Last year book sales in Japan fell below ¥2 trillion yen for the first time in 20 years. Things are hitting a critical level.

In Jimbocho, Tokyo's secondhand book district, many of the booksellers are likely to be the last generation of vendors to sell secondhand books in this neighborhood. The danger of extinction, however, only makes these bookshops more valuable. Despite being a land where few actually speak English, the Jimbocho English language book stores are often on par with anything around the world. Bibliophiles and casual readers will find everything they want, as well as books they didn't know they wanted. And as everyone knows, discovery is the real joy of secondhand book shopping. A joy that the Internet has not managed to replicate -- not yet at least.

As an introduction to the neighborhood's few remaining second-hand english bookshops, here are four notable locations.

Kitazawa: An intellectual reverie

Book selection: Kitazawa's size may have shrunk but its stature remains. This is the place for English books of an academic nature: humanities, linguistics, Oriental Studies, psychoanalysis, literary criticism, etc. For less serious types, check out the discount shelf of old Penguin and Pelican paperbacks.

Who's browsing?: Foreign exchange students, Japanese students of English from nearby universities, academic lifers.

Kitazawa: Kanda Jimbocho 2-5, Chiyoda-ku, tel. 03 3263 0011, www.kitazawa.co.jp, 11am-6:30pm, weekend 12pm-5:30pm

Bondi Books: Revolution of the mind

Interior: Everything about Bondi Books is about simple sufficiency, from the small sandwich board on the street to the shop's tiny space, filled, naturally, with lots and lots of books. Run by english ex-pat Josh Carey the shop used to be located in Kichijoji before relocating to Jimbocho in 2008. Bondi Books easily has the most esoteric soundtrack of all of Tokyo's bookshops; you are just as likely to hear New Zealand rap as you are New York No Wave.

Book selection: Bondi books knows itself extremely well. The curation is restrained, impeccable and consistently surprising. Along with a selection of classic fiction and non-fiction, Bondi Books is focused mainly on 1960s and 1970s literature: Burroughs, Ginsburg, Kerouac and the rest of the beat poets. There is also a serious archive of Golden Circle kids books and a monumentally strong set of photographic editions.

Who's browsing?: Office workers, oddballs, people who stumble in by accident and collectors who know exactly what they want out of their literary life.

Bondi Books: Hatano Shoten Building 2F, Kanda-Jimbocho 2-7, Chiyoda-Ku, tel. 03 3556 9299, www.bondibooks.com, Wednesday to Sunday 1-7pm

Sobun-So Book Store: History materialized

Interior: Opened and run by the same family since 1941, Sobun-So is basically a museum. Billing itself as seller of "Antiquarian and Fine Books," the shop will not disappoint. Mountains of dusty hardbacks pile about the entrance, but the English books are up on the second floor, spread around owner Noriaki Abe's wooden desk. Be wary of handling these old books; they pack some weight, physically and financially. 

Book selection: The selection here is as refined as the space itself. You'll notice D.H. Lawrence's poem "Tortoises" for sale, alongside a first edition of Edward Lane's "Arabian Nights" (selling for ¥65,000). Prized editions are what's on offer here, classic literature and pre-war writings with exceptional binding and even more astonishing pedigrees.

Who's browsing?: Book collectors and bibliophiles of the first degree.

Sobun-So: Kanda-Ogawamachi 3-3, Chiyoda-Ku, tel. 03 3292 7877, www.abaj.gr.jp/subunsoshoten, 10am-6pm (closed Sunday)

Book Brother Genkido: Art in volumes

Interior: Taking its cue from continental Europe, Book Brother Genkido keeps a well stocked bookshelf or two out on the street packed with bargains. The shop itself may not look that alluring, but it's a faux modesty. Inside is delightful: floor to ceiling art volumes with hand written notes in Japanese explaining their contents. This is definitely the best second-hand art bookshop in Jimbocho.

Book selection: The selection here is not so much focused on contemporary art as the classic arts. Apart from a few blockbuster artists, the monographs for sale here focus on foriegn artists, designers, architects, fashion designers and photographers from antiquity to the 1980s. When asked what they liked most in their selection the owners produced a collection of Ralph Ginzburg's notorious Eros magazines.

Who's browsing?: Art students, artists and attractive women. People who can't decide which they love more: books or art.

Book Brother Genkido: Kanda-Ogawamachi 3-1, Chiyoda-Ku, tel. 03 3291 5081, www.genkido.jp 10:30am-7pm (closed Sunday)