What is Melonbooks?

Founded in 1998, Melonbooks is your one-stop shop for doujinshi goods! As one of the biggest doujin shops in Japan with Toranoana, they carry works from various circles and if you can name a series, Melonbooks most likely has doujinshi of it. With 24 locations in Japan and an online store, their selection of products is vast and includes goods such as manga, dakimakura, anime CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, magazines, figures, and even eroge games. Melonbooks also sells secondhand items, making it a treasure trove for those who want to find content from series that are older.

Melonbooks International shipping

Can Melonbooks ship abroad? Sadly, they don't. However, with a proxy-buying service like Japan Rabbit, you can still buy from them!

How to buy from Melonbooks from overseas?

Buying from Melonbooks can seem daunting, but Japan Rabbit is here to help you walk through this process.

Step 1: Go on the Melonbooks website

The Melonbooks website is located here: melonbooks.co.jp. While busy in appearance, the Melonbooks website is easy to navigate. If you aren't able to read Japanese, up at the top left corner of the page, there is a drop-down menu to select a language to translate the website into English, Chinese, or Korean. However if you do translate to English, just a note that the third tab from the left translates incorrectly to “doujin” instead of “coterie software”!

Step 2: Browse the website for products you like

There are so many things to buy on the website but if you already know what you’re looking for, you can find it by using the search bar located at the top middle part of the screen. If you are unsure what Melonbooks has to offer or just want to browse, the 10 tabs under the search bar will be able to narrow down the products into categories. Below those tabs, are colorful banners depicting events, preorders, and releases. When a banner is clicked on, you'll be taken to a page with more details about it. When browsing for products, the category page will have a few sections to choose from:

• “Pickup Works” - these are the staff picks. When the banner is clicked on, it'll take you to the work’s page where there's a note about why the staff recommends it.
• “Reservation Start Work” - doujinshi that are currently accepting preorders.
• “New Arrival Works” - just as the name reads, new arrivals!
• “Exclusive Work” - these can often be limited edition or doujinshi written for special occasions.
• “Work with benefits” - this means that it'll come with a limited item that can only be obtained by ordering through Melonbooks.
• “Restocked work” - doujinshi that were sold out are now back in stock.
• “Ranking (week)” - the top doujinshi of the week are listed in order of popularity.
• “General Doujinshi (Electric) Works” - these are all ebooks!

Different categories will not all have the same sections throughout, but the sections are mostly self-explanatory.

Step 3: Tell Japan Rabbit what to buy

Once you have one item or a few, picked out, just let us know what to buy! To do so, copy the URL of the product’s page by highlighting the link in that page’s address bar. Right-click with your mouse and click copy or just press Ctrl+C on your keyboard. After the URL is copied, simply go to the Japan Rabbit app and paste it into the field that asks for “Product web page”. Click “Next” and there you can tell us a little more about the product. Copy the item name from the original product page and paste it into the corresponding box that is labeled “product name” on the Japan Rabbit app. The product name for goods on the Melonbooks website is always in bold, black font and can be found at the top left side, over the thin green line that is above the item photo. Then just let us know the quantity to buy and how much the product is! The price of the item can be found in yen with tax included on the right side of the yellow box that is next to the item image on Melonbooks. It'll be in big, bold, red numbers. After all the fields have been filled out, simply add the item to your cart and repeat the steps for any other items you want to buy. If you're ready, just click the checkout button and we'll do the rest!

Step 4: Consolidate, repack, and ship your packages

We'll notify you once we receive your package. If you ordered more than one thing through us and have several parcels, we can consolidate them into one package for free! Once your package is ready to ship, you can choose from a list of different shipping methods to find the one that works best for you.

What to buy on Melonbooks?

Melonbooks is mainly known for its large selection of doujinshi, but if you are unsure where to start, we've made a list of the most popular items that people buy there!

Doujinshi

Doujinshi are Japanese self-published works, often made by a group of creators called “circles” or “doujin”. When doujinshi are mentioned, perhaps manga is the first thing that comes to mind, but many different things are actually considered doujinshi. These unofficial fan-made works are inspired by popular manga, anime, or video games and can take the form of light novels, magazines, soundtracks, video games, and more! Doujinshi are in high demand because they allow the reader to see a new side of their favorite character(s) in settings and situations that may not be seen in official material.

Dakimakura covers

Dakimakura are usually life-size Japanese body pillows with a cover on it. The pillowcase often shows an anime or video game character in a lying position. These pillows are popular among anime fans and while the majority of the pillowcases feature female characters, there is a growing market for male dakimakura covers as well. “Daki”, meaning “to cling” and “makura”, meaning “pillow”, these pillows are often used by Japanese youth during bedtime to bring them a feeling of comfort and security. Nowadays, there are also many people who collect dakimakura covers and they hang them up in their room like tapestries.

FAQ

Can Japan Rabbit get digital products from Melonbooks DL?

Unfortunately, we cannot buy digital products from Melonbooks DL.

Can I buy adult products?

Japan Rabbit does permit transactions for some adult goods that are physically delivered to the customer. Doujinshi are an example of these. For a detailed explanation of what we can and cannot buy, please refer to our page here.