Does the Nook work internationally

[NanaJaneJP]

I will be living in Japan for the next 3 years and will need an ereader to keep me supplied with books.  Will the Nook work there and can I buy books from B&N (and other sources) and are there price differences from the US?

[Ya_Ya]

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NanaJaneJP wrote:

I will be living in Japan for the next 3 years and will need an ereader to keep me supplied with books.  Will the Nook work there and can I buy books from B&N (and other sources) and are there price differences from the US?

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You will be able to read anything you can get onto the device.  You should be able to connect to Wifi in Japan.

None of that is going to be particularly helpful because B&N cannot sell NOOKbooks outside of the US (and a few to Canada).  So, you will not be able to buy any content from B&N while you are in Japan.  (They don't just check that you have a US address and credit card in your account, but will check the location of your IP address before you can purchase.)

There may be some ebookstores that sell .epub content in Japan but I, personally, don't know of any.  Someone else will probably wander in and answer that part of your question for you.  

If there are, you can download the books to your PC/Mac, open with the software necessary to unlock the DRM and transfer via USB cable (sideload) them to your NOOK.

It's rare that I say this, but you might be better off with a Kindle if you're going to be overseas for that length of time.

Are you studying?  Did you get a contract job?  I'm envious, how fun to be in Japan for three years.

(All of what I said is slightly different if you are military and have a .mil email address.  B&N has secured the ability to sell content to soldiers/families with .mil addresses stationed overseas.  That doesn't extend to civilians, though.)

[NanaJaneJP]

Thanks for the reply.  Actually my husband will be working there, me I just go along for the ride.  Yes very exciting and sure to be interesting.  So it looks like I'm back to the Kindle.......oh well!

Thanks again.

[Ya_Ya]

You're welcome!  I don't know whether or not the Sony might work for you.  I looked at it a little, but it's significantly more expensive than NOOK so when I was investigating and I determined that NOOK did what I needed it to, I crossed it off the list.

Have fun!

[RobinDB]

 kindle has the same restrictions and more so on books.

There are many sources of epub books which you can download from free or paid, just google it.

The kindle is very restrictive on where you can get books from as amazon dont want you doing it, only buying books from them.

The nook uses the much more popular epub format.

[Ya_Ya]

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RobinDB wrote:

kindle has the same restrictions and more so on books....

[SNIP]

The kindle is very restrictive on where you can get books from as amazon dont want you doing it, only buying books from them.

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But Kindle at least has international copyright permissions so they have a store that can sell in most countries.  Unless OP finds a store who sells (English language) epub books in Japan, she isn't going to be able to buy anything.  [Of course, I'm assuming she wants English language books, I could be wrong.]

If such a store exists, she'd be able to use NOOK quite well, I agree.  

[Beth_DeEtt]

I ran several preliminary searches for English .epub sources in Japan and found nothing.  There were, however, several articles about Japanese start-ups that are scanning their clients' DTBs for them and converting them to .epub files, since even in Japanese the publishers are lagging far behind the market demand.

Regarding printed format, my husband spent a year in Japan when he was a Marine in the 1970's, and he told me that English printed material "is moderately easy to find", especially around U.S. military bases and American expat enclaves.  (At the time he was there, Japanese school students studied 12 years of English in school, too, but only the children were eager to practice their conversational skills with him; the adults were wary of losing face.) 

I have to agree with Ya_Ya.  This may be a situation in which a Kindle is the best bet for ereading.

[RobinDB]

The point is there are lots of free books in epub format which are available on line.

It does not mater which country you are in.

You can easily download them legally over the web.

[Ya_Ya]

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RobinDB wrote:

The point is there are lots of free books in epub format which are available on line. 

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If you want to read public domain, yes.  If you want the bestsellers or your favorite current author you need a LEGAL source from which to purchase.  Kindle provides it, NOOK doesn't and so far, none of us has found a source for English-language .epubs in Japan.

[KingAl]

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RobinDB wrote:

The kindle is very restrictive on where you can get books from as amazon dont want you doing it, only buying books from them.

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That is only true for DRMed books. There are many non-Amazon sources of non-DRMed books for the Kindle.

[BearLion]

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Ya_Ya wrote:

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RobinDB wrote:

The point is there are lots of free books in epub format which are available on line. 

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If you want to read public domain, yes.  If you want the bestsellers or your favorite current author you need a LEGAL source from which to purchase.  Kindle provides it, NOOK doesn't and so far, none of us has found a source for English-language .epubs in Japan.

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This is true. Plus, if OP doesn't plan to change her CC, she can keep it on file and still buy books from the US kindle store with no problem, even while in Japan.

[Thebookfinder]

To any person who comes into this page looking for recent informatuon about this issue! (2012) I purshased a NOOK and I live outside the United States (still in the continet though) I hunted down the most recent policies about the NOOK working internationally so here they are:

http://thebookfinder.blogspot.com/2012/12/does-nook-work-internationally.html