Forest Books

They moved from Mission district to here, a wonderful store. Great selection especially if you are into Asian cultural subjects

One of the best bookstores in San Francisco, and must be protected! Loved the tranquility of the space, which as sections dedicated to Buddhism, Zen, Japanese American history, LBTQ+, and much more. Got a beautiful postcard here from the Asian Art Museum, and enjoyed my experience thoroughly. Absolutely would recommend this bookstore for anyone that happens to be in the Japantown Plaza area. Shop local!

This place easily becomes one of the best bookstores that I have been to in the world. It welcomes guest with a smell of fragrant incense and a sound of water steadily flowing from a small artificial waterfall by its entrance - the kind of genuine sense of peace I sometimes feel from temples. The shop is filled with beautiful quotes any book lovers would look and grin at. I came across this place by chance and initially thought that I wouldn't buy anything. Soon later, I find myself very happy with three books and my hands, heading to the cashier. As the owner is a Buddhist, there is a wide selection of great Eastern philosophy books. This bookstore is relatively small. But their books are well-selected. The store clerk is also very approachable, sophisticated, and kind. From now on, whenever I look back to my first time in San Francisco, I will remember Forest books fondly.

A small used bookstore in Japantown that I like to visit whenever I'm in the area. They have several sections dedicated to philosophy, with specialties in metaphysics and Buddhism. Their children's section is appropriately decorated and has a wide variety of good quality picture books, chapter books, and middle grade and YA books! They also feature several shelves on world history and politics separated by location and region. I was very impressed by the whole shelf filled with Mexican/Chicano studies! They have a pretty nice SFF section in the back as well, though I would have liked to see more variety, such as more books by authors or color or international writers.

Great selection of early edition books for sale. Plenty of room and space to read. Recommend spending 15-30 minutes prior to dinner or something like that.

This is truly a fine bookshop with delightful surprises on its shelves. It's a great asset to the Asian American community around it. I could spend hours here and come away with some treasures.

Agatha was absolutely the SWEETEST. So kind and helpful. Not from the area and she was the nicest person I’ve met here!