From: pearl@gandalf.rutgers.edu (Starbuck)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.manga
Subject: Re: Where?
Date: 11 Nov 92 20:55:42 GMT
Organization: the Worlds Welfare Work Association, Rutgers Anime division

In article <xbl1j+g@rpi.edu> thomat@vccnw04.its.rpi.edu (Todd Michael Thomas) writes:

> also a very   good  place is Yaohan Plaza ... on Jersey side, 1$ shuttle to Transit Authority and free parking... many japanese stores... books, manga, video,
> anime, toys, food, ect.

Alas, it is a $2 shuttle ride, but still reasonable... Here is my NYC
Manga/Anime guide:

	     Manga/Anime Shopper's Guide to New York City
	     --------------------------------------------
		     A Rutgers Anime Publication
			       7/21/92

This article can be freely distributed, as long as all credits remain
intact.  If this is used in any publication (including any APA's),
please send us a copy.

Rutgers Anime 
C/O Japanese Cultural Association
Box 60, Student Activities Center
613 George Street 
New Brunswick, NJ 08903

Please send all additions/corrections/comments to:

Internet: pearl@remus.rutgers.edu   	or 	Steve Pearl
CI$: >internet: pearl@remus.rutgers.edu		359 Lloyd Rd
GEnie:  S.PEARL6				Aberdeen, NJ 07747-1826

For the purposes of this guide, I am only listing businesses which
carry actual anime and not every comic shop that carries the Marvel
Akira or the latest Viz translation.  I have heard rumours of lots of
anime to be found in Chinatown but haven't checked it out. 

DISCLAIMER:  With the exception of Books Nippon, none of these places
have any great sources of anime nor do they cater to "Andy Anime".
They primarily cater to Japanese people. Also, depending of the time
of the month you go, they can have NO selection at all.  Anime related
stuff sells out fast.

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.  

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.  On the right side, at 521 5th Avenue (between 43rd
and 44th), is Zen Oriental Bookstore.  Zen Oriental Bookstore has
Anime magazines and manga, but not much else.

As you pass 44th Street, take a look to your left.  You will see a
sign for a Japanese Restaurant called Nakagawa.  Immediately to the
left of Nakagawa, (inside & upstairs) was Tokyo Video.  They used to
have a great selection of Anime available for rent or to buy but they
got rid of their selection and no longer like "gaijins" to shop there.
The reason being (I heard) was that many people would rent anime and
never return them, and that they would loiter and watch them on the
VCR's that Tokyo Video provided in the store for checking tapes.  Then
they moved.  Just shake your head and sigh.  Another valuable resource
destroyed by the Fans from Hell.  Going the other way, (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.  After shopping there, We return to 5th Avenue and continue
our quest for Manga & Anime.

*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 the largest selection of manga that I have
seen. They also carry some of the Viz and Eclipse manga translations.
They also have a pretty good CD selection with some anime related
artists.  (But no 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***

Returning to 5th Avenue, continue walking until you reach 57th Street.
(At somepoint along the way, you will pass the Japanese Airlines (JAL)
building.  They sometimes have interesting displays in the window that
are fun to look at.)  Hang a left onto West 57th and walk to 115 West
57th.  There will be Books Nippon.  They sell models, posters,
books, magazines, manga, records/CD's,	Videotapes/LD's, comics. And
they offer 10% off to members of the Books Nippan Fan Club.  Their
selection may not be as good as the West Coast stores (Nikaku, Idol
Land, Books Nippan, etc) but they're the best that us poor
East-Coasters have.

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 some pop music CD's.  All in slightly smaller
quantities than the NYC store. Also inside is a Pony Toys, where they
sell lots of Anime models, toys, and posters as well as Japanese
 videogames (many are anime related but most won't work on American
game systems.  Compatible are Gameboy games and Turbo Grafx 16 (PC
Engine) CD-ROM games).  They also sell anime videotapes-- Gundam,
Ultraman, several others I didn't recognize as well as some of the
poorer English dubs (Macross) and the AnimEigo releases (I was amazed
about the AnimEigo stuff!) The selection of videos is very small and
varies from visit to visit.

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 that also sells CD's.  (They can special order CDs if
you know the order number.  Their prices are quite reasonable.)
And...  JBC Video.

JBC video has 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 do not
have Ranma 1/2 and have nowhere near the selection that Tokyo Video
used to have.

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-

Books Nippan
115 West 57th Street
(212) 582-4622
Hours:  M-F 10:30-7:30; Sat 11-7; Closed Sundays
	Models, Posters, books, magazines, manga, records/CD's,
	Videotapes/LD's, comics.  Discounts to members.

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.
	
Zen Oriental 
521 5th Avenue
(212) 697-0840
Hours- Until 7pm on weekdays.  Other hours unknown.
	Magazines, manga, *small* selection of CD's (non-anime)

---
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.  Not as large a selection as the one
	in Rockefeller Center.

Pony Toys-
	Posters, Models, Video games (for Japanese video game systems), Toys.

	
Affinis, Inc
	(Across from Cashiers in HyperMarket) Fair selection of
	 Japanese CD's.  No anime related but can special order.

Have fun, and don't spend too much!!!

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