I just ran across this notice at Sasuga online bookstore -- my favorite online Japanese bookstore!

6 July 2010

Dear Friends,

It is with heavy hearts that we must inform you that Sasuga Japanese Bookstore has closed its doors for good. The current economic climate and the many changes in the international bookselling market have made it impossible for us, a small independent bookstore, to compete succesfully.

It has been our pleasure to serve you. We have enjoyed getting to know so many of you over the years.

Thank you for your support and loyal patronage. We wish all of you the very best.

- Minoru Yahara, owner
and the staff at Sasuga Japanese Bookstore

http://www.sasugabooks.com/thankyou.php

I saw that too!
I bought my first novel from that store...

Yeah, I got a letter from him and part of my payment returned; I've been ordering Afternoon from them for 5 years. I was a little worried when they raised costs by $100 last year because of exchange rates.

They were having a 50% off sale before closing. I bought the Intermediate Kanji Book by Kano for a good price. Kanji in Context and Intermediate Kanji are so pricey on Amazon and Ebay.

I ordered from them years ago and was just in the last few days looking for US sources for Japanese books (living very far from any physical locations). I was so sad to see them go...

Aw man that sucks. Never got to buy from them, but they seemed like a really awesome and courteous store. They had a great book collection. I'll miss it a lot.

Goodbye, Sasuga :'(

Yes, it's sad to see them go. I've bought a number of things from them in the past. Now the best place for people in the US to buy Japanese books online is probably Kinokuniya.

http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/indexohb.cgi?AREA=02

This is pretty lame. Especially because it's the only place I've seen that has a translated version of The Lord of the Rings and some of the best prices I've seen on books.

At least I live about 25 minutes away from a Kinokuniya Book Store, a Bookoff, and Sanseido Book Store.

sheetz Wrote:Yes, it's sad to see them go. I've bought a number of things from them in the past. Now the best place for people in the US to buy Japanese books online is probably Kinokuniya.

http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/indexohb.cgi?AREA=02

Do they have paypal?, because I can't find. The good thing about sasuaga they had paypal. I guess I gotta use visa to get my books/mangas now.

I used to go to their Cambridge, MA store (Porter sq) before they closed that store and went online only. Great people; sad to see them go for good.

It's bloody tragic. It was the only place I liked to order from. The prices were great, my books arrived unbelievably fast, and they had an amazing selection.