20 Asian Places Where Real Books Rule

No biggie if you don't read the language,--Mark Twain once said: “In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.”

1. Akita International University Library (Akita Prefecture, Japan)

Jimmy and Sasha Reade / Via Flickr: readephotography

Akita International University Library is open 24/7. Akita Prefecture's native cedar was used in the traditionally crafted umbrella-shaped roof to give users a sense of tranquility and calm.

2. Books, Actually (Singapore)

Books, Actually on Instagram / Via instagram.com

Here at Books, Actually, alongside books, you also find retro, non-literary oddities to peruse, including old-school film cameras and typewriters (which look great next to books, btw).

3. Hanno City Library (Saitama Prefecture, Japan)

Indulgy / Via indulgy.com

Lovely light and airy library space here at the Hanno City Library. I like how the columns look like giant pencils.

4. Mori’s Reading Room Library Bar (Tokyo, Japan)

Sang Woo Kim / Via japantimes.co.jp

Mori’s Reading Room stocks books that were requested by the patrons (some as far away as the USA) who donated the seed money via crowd-funding. Wouldn't it be cool to travel there and see "your" book on the shelves?

5. Seoul Metropolitan Library (Seoul, South Korea)

Via korea.net

The Seoul Metropolitan Library boasts seven floors of bookish goodness. (Around 200,000 books)

6. Tripitaka Koreana (Haeinsa Temple, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea)

Will Pryce from the book by James Campbell, THE LIBRARY: A WORLD HISTORY / Via kateoplis.tumblr.com

The Tripitaka Koreana is a collection of 80,000-plus wood blocks for printing the complete collection of Buddhist works.

The original set took 77 years (!) to complete but was destroyed in 1232 by a Mongol invasion. (Dang)! King Kojong had it remade in 1236, this time taking around 16 years to complete.

7. Bangalore State Central Library (Bangalore, India)

Amith Nag / Via Flickr: infiknight

I love the maze-like feel to Bangalore State Central Library.

8. Paju Book City Library (Paju Book City, South Korea)

Via hankookilbo.com

Paju Book City Library has over 10,000 books including rare and valuable ones. Books can’t be checked out (but reading and photocopying are allowed).

9. Tsaoji Secondhand Bookstore (Tainan, Taiwan)

Via eureka99.pixnet.net

I'm digging the bamboo ladder at Tsaoji Secondhand Bookstore here.

10. Iwaki Museum of Picture Books (Fukushima Prefect, Japan)

Via blogs.yahoo.co.jp

One requirement for architect Tadao Ando: design space which displays full front cover of every single book,--over 1,300 different picture books in this museum created solely for children.

Stairs access the top floors and act as seating. One railing is lower for children. Not sure how they reach everything...trampolines?

11. Shiba Ryōtarō Museum (Higashiosaka, Japan)

Via signboard.exblog.jp

This is a museum built to house Shiba Ryōtarō's collection of books from around the world. The Japanese people are said to have gleaned moral support after World War II from Shiba Ryōtarō's travel writings and historical novels. His works are still seen by many Japanese as a kind of guide to life.

Designed by Tadao Ando (who also designed the Iwaki Museum of Picture Books above)

12. National Library of Bhutan (Thimphu, Bhutan)

Via world-discovery.co.uk and magic-photographer.com

The collection of books at the National Library of Bhutan are in the Tibetan style, (printed or written on hand-made paper stacked between wood and wrapped in silk).

13. Library of the College of Medicine at Keimyung University (Daegu, South Korea)

Via blog.joins.com

Those little round tables look woefully inadequate considering all those books, don't you think?

14. Café Comma (Seoul, South Korea)

Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald / Via nwww.koreaherald.com

Run by Munhakdongne Publishing Group, cafe-goers at Cafe Comma can use the ladder to explore books on the upper shelves, all of which are remainders sold at a discount.

15. Green School Library (Bali, Indonesia)

Via Facebook: greenschool

Books + bamboo + Bali = awesome (aka Green School Library)

16. Times of Paper Bookstore (Xiamen, China)

Via whatsonxiamen.com

Times of Paper, (aka the tallest bookstore in China), it boasts 9-meter tall bookshelves.

Plus this bookstore promises to match prices with dangdang, competitor to Amazon. Well...not exactly,--they cover the price difference with coffee vouchers. (But I'll take it)!

17. Liyuan Library (Jiaojiehe Village, Huairou District, Beijing, China)

Xiaoguang Gu / Via Flickr: guxiaoguang

Here reading spaces are integrated with shelving for books. Ordinary sticks cover the glass facade intended to make Liyuan Library blend in with nature.

18. Once Bookstore (Xiamen, China)

Via cloudstory.me

Once Bookstore is named after the 2006 Irish film entitled "Once" -- meant to evoke something pure, simple, and fleeting.

(The owner named it first in English, it translates into Chinese more like "Not" Bookstore).

19. Eslite Bookstore (Taichung, Taiwan)

MusicPancake / Via Flickr: jimmytsoi

Eslite is a huge bookstore chain in Taiwan. There was even a 24 hour branch. (But they had to reduce hours after a trial run and money wasn't a-flowing).

20. Seikando Bookstore (Matsumoto, Japan)

Neil and André Alessio / Via Flickr: ninoxowl and 500px.com

Seikando Bookstore's owner seen at right, worked frantically during the last months of WW2 to save books by moving them to Matsumoto, which was spared from air raids.

The bookstore nests under a miniature castle facade made to look like the nearby Matsumoto Castle. The owner reconstructed the exterior around 1950 to look like the real castle, because he felt sorry for tourists (who couldn't see the real castle which was under construction during that time period). Wow, can this dude get any nicer?