It’s perhaps a little strange that one of my favorite bookshops anywhere in the world should be one in which most of the books are inaccessible to me.  I can’t read Japanese, but somehow it doesn’t seem to matter when I visit T-site, something I always do when I’m in Tokyo.  The shop is in an upscale neighborhood called Daikanyama, an area that on Sunday afternoons teems with affluent young couples pushing strollers and with hipsters checking out the local high-end boutiques.

So what makes T-site so special?  It’s certainly a beautiful store, comprising three striking buildings connected by a central aisle on the ground floor.  It’s also, as you might expect in a country renowned for its efficiency and aesthetic sensibility, smartly designed.  My favorite part of the store is the Anjin Library and Lounge on the second floor, a beautiful haven where you can order a coffee or have a bite to eat surrounded by rare books and vintage magazines.

But the best thing about T-site is the hordes of book lovers that crowd the store.  I’m not exaggerating.  Whenever I visit, its aisles are packed with young people browsing, buying, reading, and chatting.  It can be tough to move around freely – that’s how popular this store has become. If bookshops are dying, the young people of Tokyo don’t seem to have got the message, thank goodness.