Tsutaya Books
GINZA SIX, at the very heart of Ginza in Tokyo. With a store design geared toward grown-up sensibilities, an installation by Yayoi Kusama that you can spot from the escalator greets you on arrival. The women visitors were all snapping away at it with their smartphone cameras.
“Ginza Tsutaya Books” occupies the sixth floor, and there is a Starbucks on the same floor as well, creating an environment where you can immerse yourself in art while enjoying a coffee.
A Life with Art
Its concept of “proposing a life with art” sits on the very same line as “Living in Art,” the idea this site advocates, and that wins our affection.
It carries a huge selection of art-related books gathered from all over the world — an exciting place. The spacious floor has room to spare even for large-format books, a truly luxurious space. When you are hunting for art books, Tsutaya Books is surely the place, no question.
Events are actively planned here too, and on the day we visited we could even enjoy an AR (virtual reality) experience that made full use of tablet devices and digital signage.
Works by famous artists are on display here and there as well.
A work by Yoshitomo Nara was on display, too. Since the product note said “purchase by consultation,” I tried asking a staff member out of curiosity. It turns out it is not that they sell this very piece as-is, but rather that they will “track down” the same piece for you. When I asked about the price, they gave a bold “6 to 7 million yen!” What an astonishing price, really.
Incidentally, it was actually for sale on a certain website.
For some works, they present them in a way that lets you check both the front and the back.
Rather than the dazzling lighting you find in department stores, the calm lighting gives it a relaxed, gallery-like atmosphere where you can linger.
You can leaf leisurely through beautiful art books, and with so much to see — artworks, antiques, Japanese swords and more — it is a deeply satisfying place. It is a space you can enjoy to the fullest even without buying anything. Talk events and the like seem to be held from time to time.
It is a place you really should experience at least once.
