Japan’s famous Tsutaya Bookstore opens at One Bangkok this October 2026 with 50,000 books, manga, art, lifestyle goods and a café.

A Japanese bookstore is basically a home. There is something about those dimmed yellow lights that instantly makes you feel cosy, comfortable and somehow reluctant to leave. A good bookstore has that effect. It makes you want to buy a book even when you have no idea when you will read it, or where exactly you will stack it so it looks beautifully intentional in your space.

We have some beautiful standalone book cafés in Thailand with that same kind of charm. And yes, Thai people actually read – despite the running joke that we only make it through eight lines of text. Japanese bookstores have also become increasingly easy to access, especially inside Bangkok’s malls. Kinokuniya already has three branches across the city. So, naturally, there is another Japanese bookstore on the horizon. Next stop: Tsutaya Bookstore.

Set to open on 20 October 2026 at The Storeys, One Bangkok, Tsutaya Bookstore will make its Thailand debut on the Ground Floor of The Storeys building. The new branch comes through a collaboration with Asia Books, the bookstore business under BJC.

The Idea Behind Tsutaya

Before Tsutaya became the stylish bookshop and lifestyle space we know today, it was a place to rent movies.

The story began in 1983 in Hirakata, Osaka, with a simple idea: bring movies, music and books under one roof and make culture part of everyday life. More than four decades later, that idea has grown into something far bigger than a conventional bookshop.

At the centre of it all is Culture Convenience Club (CCC), a Japanese lifestyle and retail company behind Tsutaya. CCC saw a bookshop as the starting point for something bigger, which eventually led to T-SITE, a lifestyle complex where books sit alongside food, design and culture.

The first T-SITE opened in Hirakata in 2016, right where Tsutaya began. Tsutaya Bookstore takes that same philosophy into a more compact format, creating spaces that invite you to stay, browse and perhaps discover something you never came looking for.

Since then, Tsutaya Bookstore has travelled beyond Japan, with branches across Taiwan, mainland China, Malaysia, Cambodia and other markets. Now, the same Tsutaya Bookstore concept is making its way to Bangkok.

Inside Tsutaya Bangkok

So, what to expect in this Bangkok branch? The space covers more than 1,000 square metres across two floors, under the concept The Waves of Wisdom. The idea is to bring books, culture and everyday life together in one space, with more than 50,000 Thai and English books and magazines alongside lifestyle goods, art, manga and a café. You might leave with a notebook, a coffee and three more things you never planned to buy.

One part to look out for is Lifestyle Curation. Instead of arranging books strictly by category, Tsutaya groups them around interests and ideas. A book might sit next to stationery, homeware or Japanese design pieces that share the same theme. It gives you a different way to browse, especially when you do not have a particular title in mind. 

The Children & Manga’s Zone has more than 15,000 children’s books and manga, along with licensed Japanese anime and manga merchandise. 

There is also a Thai Art Exhibition Corner, which gives the Bangkok branch a stronger connection to the local art scene. The space will host exhibitions by emerging Thai artists, with different works and artists taking over the corner at different times. It adds a little more to the bookstore experience: you can browse the shelves, then stop by and see what is happening in Thailand’s art scene.  

With the idea of bringing books and café culture together, the café also becomes part of the reading space. Wawee Coffee and Cocoa Dutch will serve drinks and snacks, while the space itself gives you somewhere to sit with a book after you have picked one up from the shelves. It can be a makeshift library, a quiet corner to focus on work or simply a place to pause between browsing.

Does Bangkok Need Another Bookstore?

So, perhaps the real question is: is Bangkok ready for another bookstore?

As mentioned earlier, the magic of a Japanese bookstore goes beyond the lifestyle concept. A good bookstore can make you want to stop, wander through the shelves and dig into a book, even when you had no intention of buying one that day. There is something about the atmosphere that makes you want to stay a little longer.

And Bangkok already has a pretty good example of this. Kinokuniya has three branches in the city and has built a loyal customer base among Thai readers. The business has also proved that there is money in the market, with Kinokuniya Thailand reporting profits of around 50 million baht. So there is clearly an audience here that enjoys browsing a proper bookshop, and one that is willing to spend.

Which brings us to the bigger question: why Tsutaya, and why now?

Tsutaya enters a market where a reading culture already exists, while bringing its own approach to the bookstore experience. Its mix of books, cafés, art and lifestyle products could also encourage people to spend more time around books, even when they do not walk in with the intention to buy one.

In that sense, Tsutaya could add to Thailand’s reading culture in its own way. The question may not simply be whether Thai people read. It is whether more bookstores, and better bookstore experiences, can make people want to read a little more.

And if Kinokuniya’s success is anything to go by, Bangkok may already have the appetite.