{"id":1863,"date":"2014-09-22T08:39:24","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T00:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/?p=1863"},"modified":"2014-09-20T08:48:13","modified_gmt":"2014-09-20T00:48:13","slug":"crafty-japanese-book-covers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2014\/09\/22\/crafty-japanese-book-covers\/","title":{"rendered":"Crafty Japanese Book Covers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Do you guys cover your books? I do. Well I try to.<\/p>\n

When I was younger, usually before the school year begins, I love spending an entire day just wrapping up my books in plastic. As years go by, I developed an art to it. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to be a perfect grade of plastic that you can easily wrap your book with and then easily slip it off when you need to sell or give it away. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a way to place the tape in a way that it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t damage the book at any cost. It was an awesome process, I tell ya. However, adult life has robbed me of this leisurely task and so I make a point to take good care of my books especially when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m traveling or in transit.<\/p>\n

And then my recent trip to Japan happened and I visited bookstores left and right. At first, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ask me, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do you want us to take the vinyl off your book?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sure. No problem. And then they ask, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do you want us to place a cover on your book?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d How could I honestly say \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcNo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122?<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know why this never happened to me before. Maybe because I never paid attention or that I probably bought books at bookstores that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do this stuff. But since I really managed to immerse in Tokyo this time around, I stopped by a lot of bookstores and at some point I was happy collecting all sorts of book covers.<\/p>\n

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Left is from Toranoana and right is from Yurindo. Toranoana has the same design to cover B5 dojinshi!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For anime and manga fans, the best place to get book covers are in Animate and Toranoana. Animate doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t offer it all the time but it wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hurt to ask if you can get a cover. Animate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cover though is a convenient plastic cover, the kind where it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conveniently sized for your manga size and all you have to do is slip it in. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nice since it keeps the cover. But when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reading BL, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annoying that the people in front of you KNOW you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reading BL.<\/p>\n

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I love this map feel of Bunkyodo’s book cover. <3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I prefer the recycled paper covers, the kind that does its job of protecting your books while you read it in your travel as well as giving you enough privacy to hide your book from onlookers. Also, these book covers also come in varying designs. Also, the cashier does a lovely speedy trick in covering your books to the point that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost inspiring to do this with any fancy sheet of gift wrap when I get home.<\/p>\n

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This is my favorite cover which is from Books Ruhe in Kichijoji shotengai. Isn’t the design adorable?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stores vary in terms of design. My favourites are Bunkyodo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, Toranoana, Books Ruhe in Kichijoji, and Haruya in Nakano Broadway.<\/p>\n

I cannot suggest enough to get this when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in Japan, although at some point, you might think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s definitely a waste of paper. To a degree it is and to be honest, at one point, you can tell the cashier that they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to give you a cover. That saves the guilt and the great thing about this is you can reuse the covers for when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re travelling and lugging your comics around. At least for me, it saved some of my new comics from getting a crease while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m lugging them around from airport to airport.<\/p>\n

If you go to Loft, you might even find an array of book covers that last longer. My favourite, and inspiration for creating my own book cover is Beahouse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Freesize book cover. IT IS AWESOME! Just catch this video and let Paul convince you of its awesomeness!<\/p>\n

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