Hi everyone. I have no idea when we’ll be able to go back to Japan, but once we can me and my friends are planning a two week trip possibly entirely situated in Tokyo.
Since I’ll be there for a while I want to try to find a few Japanese albums and was wondering what record stores you recommend besides Tower Records. Specifically, I’m looking for stores that carry maybe lesser known Japanese rock, indie, pop albums. I’m thinking I’ll have to search through used stores, but whatever recommendations you have I’ll take them.
11 comments
For second hand store, the go to destination is Book Off (they also sell cd, dvd and video games), and they also do tax free for tourist if you by for 5000 yen and more before tax, so make sure to have your passport (as you should anyway).
I guess you could also try Amazon if you do not have luck in store. When I used amazon in Japan, it had the option to ship to a Lawson conbini, so you don’t even need an address in Japan.
recofan:
http://www.recofan.co.jp/map/map_eng.html
Tower Records in Shibuya isn’t bad, and nearby there’s also an HMV (opposite from Tokyu Hands Shibuya) and at least 3 vinyl stores across the same street (for two of them you have to walk up a slope a bit (technically a hill, but I’d hardly call it that).
Disc Union has a number of shops and they are organized by genre.
See this [article](https://blog.discogs.com/en/best-record-stores-tokyo/)
Also note that Disk Union has stores in other neighbourhoods (Ikebukuro, Shibuya, Shimo-Kitazawa) that may cater to slightly different audience.
Others include eg.: Like An Edison (1F, Sakamoto Building, 7-15-14 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku), Enban (3 Chome-59-11 Koenjiminami, Suginami-ku)
Try Disk Union. Tell them the style of music you’re interested in. There are disk union stores specifically for different styles of music. Ask about other music stores that specialize in style you’re after.
Tower records is going to be the most accessible for newer music and CDs.
I collect vinyl and have spent hours upon hours in music stores in japan, but i am not interested in cds. Id encourage you to try to find music you’re interested in online first – put photos of albums on your phone – and use the photos to ask for help. If you’re looking for Japanese music and can’t read Japanese, it will be difficult to navigate the stores.
Last tip – most music stores don’t open until 11am, so plan something else to do in the morning.
Edit: you might also be interested in Koenji. Live music hub and lots of neat thrift stores.
Have a look at:
https://recordstores.love/
and
https://vinylhub.discogs.com/
There’s a huge amount of record stores in Tokyo, and for whatever you’re after, it’ll be there somewhere, and with an accurate/reasonable price. The Disk Union in Nakano seemed to have more indie stuff. And I think there’s one in Shinjuku just for J-Pop/Rock.
There’s a small chain called RARE Records, on various stops along the Chuo Line. They would be worth checking. And Shimokitazawa has a good density of shops, although I find that place a real challenge to navigate and spend more time looking for the shops, than the records IN the shops!
Last time I was there the vinyl in Book Offs tended to be more hit-and-miss, a lot of Hip-Hop/RnB, with some quite random selections, priced cheaply. But I think they only recently started to stock records, so they may have tightened up and got a bit more organized with their genres and pricing. Not worth a trip out to some weird suburb if there’s nothing else for you out there IMO.
It might also be worth having a look for the albums or genres you’re after on discogs, and see who’s selling that stuff. They’re often accounts of real shops, many of which are in Tokyo…
i could go on and on!
I went to Big Love Records in Tokyo when I was there in 2019. Very cool record store that also sells beer! It’s kinda small but the guy behind the counter spoke a little English and was very welcoming and tried to ask if I needed anything specific. Overall, a cool vibe to sit and sip a beer and look at records.
This is an extensive guide which seems to have been kept up to date until 2019: https://mostly-retro.com/2016/10/03/the-biggest-guide-to-tokyo-record-stores-on-the-internet/
Coconuts Disk is a good smaller chain, the location in Kichijoji is great and was used for filming the movie “Fish Story”. There are clusters of smaller shops in Shimokitazawa, Koenji (Base Records is awesome for punk, they’ll put one of every punk flier in your bag if you buy something) and Nishishinjuku 7-chōme area north of Shinjuku-Nishiguchi station.
los apson in Koenji and waltz in Nakameguro were both worth tracking down, can’t wait to get back there
There’s this insanely cool underground basement record shop called Discland Jaro in Shibuya which I remember traveling to with my brother and dad a while back. It’s a very small store run by an old gentleman and I remember he had many Sunny Rollins vinyls. May be a cool place for you to check out