MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Otakus, rejoice! With its recent partnership with Japanese bookstore chain Kinokuniya, Fully Booked has substantially expanded its Japanese manga and books selection at the soon-to-open premium Japanese-inspired mall, MITSUKOSHI BGC.
Fully Booked is dedicating almost half of its MITSUKOSHI BGC retail space to shelves upon shelves of Japanese manga and Japanese books through its partnership with Kinokuniya. The MITSUKOSHI BGC branch will also feature a wide selection of English-language manga.
“Bookworms can expect the typical Fully Booked range and curation of titles at our branch in MITSUKOSHI BGC — with a special spotlight on manga, both in Japanese and English languages. With half of the branch earmarked for manga, we hope that manga readers will be delighted with the assortment of titles available,” shared Fully Booked Managing Director Jaime Daez.
Since 2019, Fully Booked has been quietly working with Kinokuniya to expand its selection of Japanese language manga and books — mostly available at its flagship store and ecommerce platform. But with the shared space at MITSUKOSHI BGC, Fully Booked will be offering the widest range of manga in one single store for the first time. The variety and selection of available manga in the MITSUKOSHI BGC branch will surpass even the bookstore chain’s flagship store at Bonifacio High Street.
“We started working with Kinokuniya in 2019, outside of the public spotlight, to explore including Japanese titles in our selection. Our partnership enabled us to experiment with titles that could work in the Philippine market and discover valuable insights about what readers want to see on the shelves. With the opening of a Japanese themed mall, we felt it was the right time to take it to the next level and offer Filipino readers a really extensive range of Japanese manga never before seen in any of our stores,” explained Jaime.
Fully Booked also continues to embrace the Japanese-inspired sensibility of MITSUKOSHI BGC with a graphic wall mural gracing its storefront. The artwork is designed by renowned New York-based Japanese illustrator, Yuko Shimizu. Shimizu’s artwork concept features the fusion of Japanese and Filipino cultures through the shared experience of reading.
Established in 2003, Fully Booked will now have 31 stores nationwide, including branches in SM Bacolod, SM Grand Central, and The Podium, all of which opened this year.
To browse Fully Booked’s voluminous Japanese manga selection, head to the second level of MITSUKOSHI BGC, located at 8th Avenue corner 36th Street. Exciting promos also await bookworms who will be visiting during the opening weekend:
1. For a single receipt purchase of PHP 3,000 minimum during opening weekend (November 17 to 20), customers can receive a free discount card which entitles the cardholder to a lifetime membership and perks like 10% off on cash purchases of d-coded items.
2. The first 350 to purchase a minimum of PHP 3,000 worth of manga will also receive a free Viz tote bag.
Learn more about the lifetime membership and the Fully Booked Discount Card here.
