Flowing quietly on the edge of a busy business district, the Higashi Yokobori river has in recent years become something of a magnet for quirky shops and eateries, which now occupy many of the old structures on the riverbanks. Bookshop and café Folk, on the other hand, was a fixture in the Higashi Yokobori area long before it turned trendy.
The bookstore, a lair-like underground space entered via a staircase at the back of the café, carries an eclectic selection of new and secondhand novels, essay collections, magazines and more, plus an equally miscellaneous line-up of CDs, T-shirts, ornaments and stationery.
Folk also operates an excitingly curated children’s bookstore next door, where picture book enthusiasts of all ages will have fun browsing and making new discoveries. However, note that most of the books in both shops are in Japanese only.