Books and Coffee Aroma: 3 Coolest Literary Spots in Taipei’s Xinyi District

▲ TSUTAYA BOOKSTORE in Taipei. (Photo / Reporter Cai Wenjun)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report　

Japan’s globally renowned Tsutaya Books opened its first overseas store, TSUTAYA BOOKSTORE, earlier this year. With its open design and integrated trendy café, the bookstore allows every visitor to enjoy rich coffee aromas while leisurely browsing books before purchase. In addition to TSUTAYA BOOKSTORE, there are two other spots in Xinyi District that also blend the scents of books and coffee, making them among the trendiest literary Instagram spots in Taipei’s Xinyi District.

Tsutaya Books
Known as Japan’s “most beautiful bookstore,” Tsutaya Books’ first overseas store, TSUTAYA BOOKSTORE, officially opened on the 24th on the 5th floor of Taipei’s Uni-President Department Store. It promotes various lifestyles and aesthetics, spreading the joy of reading through a diverse selection of books. The Taiwan branch has introduced “WIRED TOKYO,” a highly fashionable Tokyo-based café and restaurant, much like its Japanese counterpart. Customers can choose any three books from the store—including magazines with custom-designed covers—and bring them into the café to read. The aroma of books pairs perfectly with gourmet meals and coffee, offering a unique reading experience.

Tsutaya Books Xinyi Store (TSUTAYA BOOKSTORE)
Address: 5F, 8 Zhongxiao East Road, Section 5, Xinyi District, Taipei City (Uni-President Department Store Taipei)
Phone: 02-2725-1881

▲ MUJI Café connects with the MUJI BOOK bookstore, which houses 4,600 volumes. (Photo / Provided by MUJI)

MUJI Cafe
MUJI’s new store concept, “MUJI Café,” opened at the end of 2016, designed around the idea of enjoying good food and slow reading. In addition to the café, the space is connected to the “MUJI BOOK” bookstore, which features 4,600 books, and customers can also read while sipping coffee. Aside from coffee, MUJI Café offers a wide variety of light meals, such as roasted salted vegetables with a soft-boiled egg open-faced sandwich and honey-roasted chicken with mustard open-faced sandwich.

Address: 3F, 11 Songshou Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City (Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Taipei Xinyi New World A11)
Phone: 02-2722-8751

▲ Currently in trial operation, Yuelue Bookstore also plans to include cultural experience tours in the future. (Photo / Archive)

Yuelue Bookstore Songyan Store
Originally built in 1954 as a nursery inside the Songshan Tobacco Factory, this space is now a bookstore, a café, and an arts and culture performance venue. The combination of the old building, green walls, books, and coffee creates a bookstore unlike any other. The store invited cultural figure Zhang Tiezhi to serve as its chief consultant, responsible for enriching its content and giving the bookstore a soul. Meanwhile, Yuelue Bookstore manager Cai Ruishan runs the store like a TV channel to ensure its sustainability.

Address: 133 Guangfu South Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City
Phone: 02-2749-1527