{"id":80971,"date":"2026-04-21T13:39:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/?p=80971"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:39:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:39:41","slug":"love-letter-to-japan-finds-home-in-calgarys-chinatown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2026\/04\/21\/love-letter-to-japan-finds-home-in-calgarys-chinatown\/","title":{"rendered":"Love letter to Japan finds home in Calgary’s Chinatown"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nekoto Books opened last summer in the Dragon City Mall. Located in Chinatown, the store stocks Chinese classics that are popular with many in the local community. (Photo by Mace Elsher.\/SAIT).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The warm lighting from the green, blue and beige lamps casts a gentle glow across the spines of books nestled safely on cypress shelves.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the first and only (exclusively) Japanese book store in Calgary,\u201d says Antonella Ella, owner of Nekoto Books. <\/span>\u201cThe space is designed like a small Hokkaido bookstore. It\u2019s all wood, it’s very tiny, it\u2019s not like a conglomerate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The cozy shop calls Dragon City Mall \u2014 located in the heart of Calgary\u2019s Chinatown \u2014\u00a0home. Ella says patrons from the Chinese community regularly express gratitude for having access to Chinese classics again right in their neighbourhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they are translated to English, they tend to lose their original meaning,\u201d says Ella, who speaks multiple languages including Japanese and Mandarin.\u201cSo, we read them to see if there has been any deviation, and then we let our patrons know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Before Ella opened the shop last August, owners of surrounding businesses seemed unsure about the idea of a Japanese influenced stationary and book shop.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut we listened to them about the books they grew up reading, and we worked to bring them in. That was when they realized, \u2018oh, you do care.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nekoto Books journey started as a love letter to Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the art hanging in frames here is made by my friends,\u201d Ella said. <\/span>\u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through dedication to hand-stamping paper bags, commission of \u00a0local artists for their iconic cat designs, and close ties with Japanese publishers, devotion is abundant in the small space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love coming here because it has the latest on booktok,\u201d Zina Oukil, a video producer and host with Curiocity Calgary, told her followers on Instagram. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a bookstore or a manga store. They also sell Japanese stationary, stamps and they have a lot of really cute cards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ella loves introducing newcomers to what she refers to as the cozy Japanese lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so comforting to get to meet these people and for them to come back to the store,\u201d she said..<\/span><\/p>\n

The store is a pocket of warmth and quiet in the busyness that is the Dragon City Mall.<\/span><\/p>\n

What started as a love letter to Japan has become a warm invitation to curious Calgarians.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nekoto Books holds art books from fashion magazines and iconic pop culture media on handmade shelves along the wall in Calgary on Saturday, April 4, 2026. (Photo by Mace Elsher.\/SAIT).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":996,"featured_media":80975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1590,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-80971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts","8":"category-city"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/996"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80971"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81177,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80971\/revisions\/81177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}