Some of you probably feel that you can only buy manga in Japanese if you live in Japan or you happen to be there for a short time visit.

Well, you’re not wrong about that. It’s a lot easier for you to buy manga in Japanese if you live in Japan. Or at the very least, you know someone who lives there.

Not only that, but you can also buy the used manga too if you like. And the used manga tends to be in pristine condition for the most part too. 

Since you don’t live in Japan, does it mean that the Japanese manga is out of reach to you? 

Of course, the answer is no.

Unless you’re looking for a limited edition of your favorite manga, there’s a way for you to buy the manga in Japanese directly.

You can choose to buy the manga in Japanese in digital too if that’s your preferred format.

So, where can you buy them online? Here are the places where you can buy manga in Japanese online regardless of where you live. 

Where to buy manga in Japanese online

Since we’re talking about buying manga in Japanese here, does it mean that the websites will be in Japanese as well?

That will depend on where you’re planning to buy since some of the websites are indeed in Japanese.

But don’t worry about that since most of the websites that I recommend are in English and ship overseas.

Keep in mind that most of them will be charging you in Japanese Yen rather than in USD. But they do provide the price in USD and other currencies for reference.

With that said, here are the places where you can buy manga online. 

CDJapan

If you’ve been reading my blog long enough, you probably see me recommending CDJapan a lot.

The reason for that is simple – you can buy any books in Japanese at CDJapan, not just manga and light novels.

What’s more, you can also buy other things such as Japanese CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray, and video game soundtracks too.

You can also pre-order any anime and video game merchandise too. I’m sure that many of you are already aware that most of them are only available exclusively in Japan.

Want to get the limited edition manga that you can only get at Animate? Well, you can also use their shopping service to buy from other stores that don’t ship overseas. Just send them a request on which item you want and you can place the order like you would for a normal product listing in CDJapan.

Just to let you know that I’ve been buying from CDJapan for more than ten years already as I write this. If you’re looking to buy your favorite manga in Japanese or anything related to anime, manga, and video games, you can’t go wrong with CDJapan.

Curious about CDJapan? You can take a look at the website right here:

Buy manga from CDJapan

J-List

J-List is another place for you to get your favorite manga in Japanese. But unlike CDJapan, they only sell a handful of Japanese manga on their website. What’s more, the books are pricier than the books in CDJapan too.

The good thing about J-List is that all items are priced in USD despite being based in Gunma. And let’s not forget that they’re also selling the same snacks that you’ll see in Dagashi Kashi and also in the Japanese convenience store.

Of course, that’s not the only thing they’re selling. If you’re wondering what else you can buy at J-List, you can take a look at the website right here:

Buy manga from Japan at J-List

Amazon Japan

Well, how can I not include Amazon Japan in this list since you can get pretty much all the things you need just like Amazon US.

And just like Amazon US, you can also buy used manga and the Kindle version of the manga on Amazon Japan too.

Some of you may have a hard time navigating the website since it’s in Japanese. But you don’t have to worry about that since you can change the language to English at the bottom of the page.

The only downside with Amazon Japan is that the shipping can be a little pricey for many of us. So, I only suggest you buy stuff on Amazon Japan if you can’t get them anywhere else.

You can have a look at Amazon Japan right here:

Buy stuff from Japan on Amazon Japan

Bookwalker

Bookwalker is also one of the websites that I frequently mentioned on this blog. But the Bookwalker that I’m referring to in this context is the Japanese site, not the Global site.

Just like the Global site, you can also purchase the manga and light novels on the Japanese site and earn coins. But I’m not sure if you can buy the manga and light novels on the Japanese site if you live outside of Japan.

It’s possible that the website requires you to have an address in Japan and also a credit card issued by banks in Japan.

If that’s the case, then you’re better off buying the manga on Amazon Japan. Sure, you may need to register a new account even if you already have Amazon account elsewhere. But it’s still better since you can buy pretty much any manga you want, not just by Kadokawa.

But if you’re just curious about the Japanese site, you can take a look at it right here:

Bookwalker Japanese site

Kinokuniya

Okay, I admit that Kinokuniya isn’t technically an online store despite having an online presence like any other business with a physical store.

But it’s worth mentioning here since it’s also another place for you to buy your favorite manga in Japanese.

I can’t say about Kinokuniya in other countries. But for Kinokuniya Malaysia, you can also buy books in English, Chinese, Malay, and even in German too apart from the Japanese books.

It’s too bad that Kinokuniya is only available at certain countries. If you have the chance to visit Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE or the US, be sure to visit Kinokuniya while you’re there.

Kinokuniya US Store does ship internationally. But they can only ship to Canada and Mexico for the time being due to pandemic.

In case you’re wondering, this is where I get all of the print version of the manga in Japanese, English and also Malay.

How to get your hands on the limited edition manga from a specific store

I’m sure that some of us are also thinking about buying the limited edition manga that is only available in a special store such as Animate.

This is where the shopping services come in handy. You can use this service to purchase anything from Japan, including the limited edition manga.

As I already mentioned before, CDJapan does have a shopping service that you can use to purchase the limited edition manga.

But there is also another shopping service that you can use to buy the limited edition manga. And the fee is also less than the one by CDJapan too.

If you’re looking for the shopping service that I used in the past, you can take a look at this blog post right here.

Over to you

Do you buy manga in Japanese? If you do, where do you get the manga? Feel free to share with me in the comment below.

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