What is a mook?
The “mook”, “mookbook” or “e-mook” is what most Japanese publishers would call the perfect combination of a (m)agazine and a b(ook) typically produced for a luxury brand and packed together with a gift for its reader. You can find them in Japanese book stores like Kinokuniya or Tsutaya and convenience stores like 7-11, FamilyMart and Lawsons.
I first experienced a mook while walking into the basement-level magazine section of Kinokuniya in Bryant Park. These chunky, plastic-wrapped, ad heady books caught my eye amongst all the other reads in the aisle. Specifically, it was the Bape mook that stood out the most. I was perplexed as to why they would give away a whole Bape bag typically priced at $200+ with the sale of just a $30 magazine. But maybe that was just it, The E-Mook could be a gateway for its reader to become one with the brands’ community at a lost cost of acquisition. While enjoying the sick freebie, the graphic catalog of that year’s Bape season left me wanting to dig deeper into that section of magazine culture.
Despite the alluring gift that is packed with the mook, there is still a whole printed editorial product that it’s paired with that can’t be missed. The content in the magazines usually is related to fashion but range into the hobby or niche genres of magazine publication.
What truly makes the mook different from a magazine is that it is printed with a ISBN (International Standard Book Number) code which is different from the traditional system of magazine codes.
If you want to collect some cool brands’ products at a fraction of the cost or you want to impress your loved one with a great niche gift, check out your local Japanese bookstore’s magazine aisle and see what mooks they have to offer!
Written by Jayquel Michael W. @jayquelmichael
