The warm lighting from the green, blue and beige lamps casts a gentle glow across the spines of books nestled safely on cypress shelves.
A teal curtain is pulled back by a gold rope over a small window. Cool lighting from the snowy space outside filters in to the cozy space inside. The smell of rose and freshly cut wood hangs in the air.
“We are the first and only (exclusively) Japanese book store in Calgary,” says Antonella Ella, owner of Nekoto Books. “The space is designed like a small Hokkaido bookstore. It’s all wood, it’s very tiny, it’s not like a conglomerate.”
The cozy shop calls Dragon City Mall — located in the heart of Calgary’s Chinatown — home. Ella says patrons from the Chinese community regularly express gratitude for having access to Chinese classics again right in their neighbourhood.
“When they are translated to English, they tend to lose their original meaning,” says Ella, who speaks multiple languages including Japanese and Mandarin.“So, we read them to see if there has been any deviation, and then we let our patrons know.”
Before Ella opened the shop last August, owners of surrounding businesses seemed unsure about the idea of a Japanese influenced stationary and book shop.
“But we listened to them about the books they grew up reading, and we worked to bring them in. That was when they realized, ‘oh, you do care.’”
The Nekoto Books journey started as a love letter to Japan.
“Some of the art hanging in frames here is made by my friends,” Ella said. “They helped me so much to help make this place and believed in me. If I can have their art, books, whatever it is, in this space, then I want it here.”
Ella explains each nook and dedicated space as she tours a visitor around the shop. There is a tenderness in the way she describes each area and a glint of excitement in her eye as she answers each question.
Through dedication to hand-stamping paper bags, commission of local artists for their iconic cat designs, and close ties with Japanese publishers, devotion is abundant in the small space.
“I love coming here because it has the latest on booktok,” Zina Oukil, a video producer and host with Curiocity Calgary, told her followers on Instagram. “It’s not just a bookstore or a manga store. They also sell Japanese stationary, stamps and they have a lot of really cute cards.”
Ella loves introducing newcomers to what she refers to as the cozy Japanese lifestyle.
“It’s so comforting to get to meet these people and for them to come back to the store,” she said..
The store is a pocket of warmth and quiet in the busyness that is the Dragon City Mall.
What started as a love letter to Japan has become a warm invitation to curious Calgarians.
