5.28.2004
Kinokuniya Books
10 W 49th St (between 5th & 6th)http://www.kinokuniya.com/newyork/
Getting a new notebook from Kinokuniya was my excuse for taking the morning off to wander around Rockefeller Center and blend in with the happy tourists brandishing cameras. The first floor is books, but the second floor is where the goodies are: notebooks, stationery, washi paper, little dolls, etc. I'm impressed with how cutting-edge their stock is: I couldn't find a single Tarepanda left on the shelves. The droopy panda's market share has been completely been usurped by Pandy Happy, a naively drawn, self-satisfied little fellow (motto: "What do you have in your hands?"). I like his four-leaf clover, but I don't think he has the same emotional presence or psychic imact or whatever. I got a Pandy Happy notebook, but inside my heart I still tarette iru.
