You may be able to find manga being sold domestically in your own countries such as the USA, Canada, Singapore, etc. However, as hard as they may try, those stores will always offer a far more limited range of manga then you can get directly from Japan itself. If you are looking for limited edition copies or just the newest series hitting the shelves of Japanese stores, buying manga directly from Japan is the only way to go.
How To Buy Manga from Japan
Step 1: Translate the Manga's Title
When searching for a particular manga series on a Japanese website, it is best to search for the manga using its Japanese title - it may come as no surprise to you, but Japanese sellers will normally list manga under their Japanese names/titles.
You can use google translate to try and guess the Japanese title of the manga you want, but a FAR, FAR better option is Wikipedia. Simply search the title of the manga you want using google and click on its Wikipedia page. The original Japanese title will normally be in the first paragraph - just highlight and copy the title in Japanese and you will be all set!
Step 2: Search for your Favorite Manga
Now that you have the Japanese name of the manga you are looking for, it's easy. Just paste the text into the search bar followed by this Kanji "巻" and hit enter - it roughly translates to "volume", so only manga should appear in the search results, helpful if you're not interested in other merchandise ("鬼滅の刃 巻" or "鬼滅の刃 3巻").
If you are looking for second-hand volumes of manga make sure that you have "Yahoo auctions" or "ZenPlus" selected for the best price.
You can normally pick up brand new copies of manga by selecting "Amazon" or "Rakuten", just be warned you may be paying more then you need to with brand new copies as second-hand copies are normally in fantastic condition.
Don’t forget that if you are unable to find an item, you can always reach out to us for help by clicking "Can't Find" on our website, our customer support team can help you out.
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Step 3: Browse through dozens of options
You will often find the manga you are looking for being sold in a wide array of options. From volumes being sold individually or in complete sets, you can buy in whichever way is best for you.
Also Read: How to buy Doujinshi from Japan
To get the best value for your money, we recommend buying manga in complete sets. You will save money on shipping and processing fees in the long run instead of buying a single manga volume at a time.
Remember, you can always use the options listed to the left and top of the search results to help you find and narrow down your search.
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Step 4: Check the item details
On the product page, you can find out more information about the manga you want to purchase. You will be able to see the price, more photos from different angles, and more.
If you are pre-ordering an item, please note that it will only be shipped out to us on the delivery date stated, after which you will be able to create a parcel for international shipping once it arrives at our warehouse.
Also Read: Full Tutorial: How to buy from Japan with ZenMarket
There will also be a lot more information about the item under “Product Details”, which you can normally find by scrolling down the page.
Step 5: Order with ZenMarket!
Once you are satisfied and ready to order, add the manga to your ZenMarket cart.
Our operators will then check the price and availability of your item and you will receive a notification once it is ready to be paid for.
For a full tutorial on how to buy from ZenMarket, check out our guide here.
Also Read: How to buy Light Novels from Japan
Bonus Step: Discover New Manga!
If you are ready to dive into the unknown and find new manga series that are currently popular in Japan, we have some resources for you.
As Amazon is one of the most popular e-commerce sites in the world, they also keep track of what is hot right now in Japan when it comes to manga. If you happen to find something you are interested in reading on Amazon you can follow the steps we listed out above or just copy and paste the URL of the item page directly into the ZenMarket search - you will be taken directly to ZenMarket's English listing for the same item.
Rakuten is much like Japan's version of Amazon, so of course they have a huge selection of books, including manga. If you want to get your hands on tons of new and popular manga, Rakuten is where you need to look! Browse by most popular or bestselling manga, as well as check out some brand new releases. The releases are updated daily!
Yahoo! Shopping is also an amazing place to look for new and popular manga series as they get released. They will almost always have listings for popular titles that are featured in Shonen Jump and similar manga publications as the individual works become serialised.