**EDIT (4/28/20): All of you guys frickin’ rock. Thank you so much for all of the suggestions!!!!! I’m going to start compiling a list and whittling it down to what I’ll be able to manage. So so excited to look into all of these.**
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Hey!!
My best friend and I are planning to travel to Japan for about 2 weeks around the end of May, early June 2021. They’ve been there before, but I’ve barely ever left the USA before. We’re thinking (still flexible at this point) of visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, and likely Hokkaido.
I took 3 semesters of Japanese in college – definitely need to refresh my brain and practice over this next year, considering that was about 6 years ago already. But I know enough that I could at least get the gist of what signs or people say.
My big thing whenever I visit another city (no matter how big or small) is to visit the local record shops/generally “retro stuff” stores. I have an ever-expanding CD and vinyl collection that I would aaaaabsolutely want to add on to with music from Japan. In high school, I listened to a ton of shibuya-kei (i.e. Pizzicato Five, Fantastic Plastic Machine, Cornelius, etc) and post-hardcore (i.e. Ling Tosite Sigure, 9mm Parabellum Bullet, HaKU, etc). Nowadays I listen to a ton of 70s/80s new wave/post-punk acts like Plastics, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Akiko Yano – you get the idea. The reason I list this all out – does anyone have any good suggestions of stores, or even places, to go to either buy this sort of music, or experience that sort of music/atmosphere? Does that make sense?
Additionally, I’m also a huge film buff!! I actually have a B.A. in film studies and filmmaking, hahaha. I love watching and finding weird underground, counter-cultural stuff, but just as equally I enjoy things that are very much a product of their time (as in, a movie that could be seen as “very 80s”). Are there any cool places that sell or show/feature interesting Japanese movies? I’d also be interested in places that are just generally kind of punk-y and fun.
Generally, I’m big into pop culture, but especially the aesthetics and sounds of the 70s/80s/90s (and particularly those decades relating to Japanese culture). I love museums too, btw!! If there’s something you think I’d enjoy that I maybe didn’t necessarily specify I was looking for – PLEASE PLEASE tell me anyways!! I am so open to any and all suggestions – I genuinely have no idea where to even start.
**TLDR; I’m looking for recs of places to visit that either sell, show, or have the aesthetic of 70s/80s/90s music, movies, and culture of Japan (in Tokyo, Kyoto, or Hokkaido)! :\^)**
Thanks in advance!!!! If I’m not very clear or need to provide more details, let me know. Also very aware that this is quite a niche thing to look for, hahaha.
20 comments
Osaka is about a 40 minute train ride from Kyoto–if you have time, walk around the Nakazakicho neighborhood! It’s chock full of cute little cafes, record stores, and vintage shops. Really hipster feel and little-known by tourists (at least I thought–I only saw a couple of other foreigners that day).
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Look up disc union. They have several ones in different parts of tokyo like shinjuku, shibuya, etc…
The buildings have like 1-5 floors and each floor is a different genre.
Check out Shimokitazawa in Tokyo. Not far from Shinjuku/Shibuya. I don’t have first hand recommendations, I’ve only been there once. But I have this blog saved which sounds like what you’re looking for.
https://digjapan.travel/en/blog/id=11608
I was about to comment with Nakazakicho but someone beat me to it. It’s probably my favorite area of Osaka.
Shinsekai in Osaka is also very retro but in a different way. It basically feels like it was frozen in time in the 70s-80s. Lots of very retro gaming arcades etc. But very brash and garish and becoming very popular with tourists lately. I’m also not sure if there’s any record stores there but it’s fun to just go and experience the atomosphere and eat all the fried food.
I think you’ll enjoy Shimokitazawa in Tokyo. It’s like a hipster’s paradise with a bunch of indie record shops and underground live houses.
Koenji also has a similar cool, artsy, retro vibe and a rich musical history.
>Nowadays I listen to a ton of 70s/80s new wave/post-punk acts like Plastics, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Akiko Yano
Good luck. You’ll find plenty of YMO (reissues and originals) and there are almost always one or two Plastics albums kicking around Disk Union/HMV. But a lot of the less globally known new wave/post-punk acts are picked clean pretty quickly (by myself and others). [This](https://diskunion.net/shop/ct/shinjuku_jp) Disk Union shop in the basement exclusively stocks Japanese indies (what you’ll be looking for). It’s quite tiny, but it’s worth going through the new arrivals. HMV in Shibuya and Shinjuku ALTA are also good places to look.
Because of your B.A. you should head to “book town”, Jimbocho, and hit up [Jimbocho Vintage](http://www.jimboucho-vintage.jp/). It’s got old magazines, movie posters (domestic and Japanese posters for western movies).
Big Love Records in Harajuku!
Jimbocho. It’s most famous for its book stores, but there are loads of shops with records and miscellaneous entertainment memorabilia. You might also check out the regular flea markets like Kobo-san on the 21st and Tenjin-san on the 25th in Kyoto. Also, just try putting “レコード” into a google maps search and look at what pops up. [In Kyoto, for example, you can sizable congregation of record stores around the Sanjo-Teramachi area of downtown.](https://www.google.com/maps/search/%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89/@35.0083991,135.7674072,17z/data=!5m1!1e4) Someone else mentioned Nakazakicho, which I think is a fair recommendation, but you might have more luck in some of the side streets off Shinsaibashi–and definitely go to Shinsekai. Actually, Osaka in general is far more retro-feeling than Tokyo, especially around Namba and Shinsekai.
On a different tangent, I think you’d be nuts to cram Hokkaido into this trip. 2 weeks is barely enough for the Tokyo and Kyoto areas. I generally recommend about a week each just for the highlights. Furthermore, Hokkaido is huge, it’s nowhere near Tokyo and Kyoto, and it’s not as easy to get around as central Japan. Even if you had 3-4 weeks I’d have a pretty hard time justifying the detour unless you had very good reasons to make the trip.
For Tokyo I reckon you’d like Waltz in Nakameguro & Los Apson in Koenji. It’s a little bit of a commitment to find them (i.e. might spend an afternoon and just visit one little shop?) but I thought they were both super cool. Obviously that’s if they come out of covid ok, waltz looks like it’s shut at the moment
check out the yokocho(s). yakitori alley or golden gai near shinjuku station
Tengachaya, Osaka (local food/beer etc)
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Bro, if you are visiting Japan for the 1st time, I would recommend to visit those city nearby Tokyo, like Tokyo, Kyoto (spell differently 🙂 ), Osaka, Nagoya etc..and don’t miss out Mount Fuji as well..
If you like shopping, then Osaka is the best place to shop, not only those Luxury Outlet, but also those pharmacy which sell virtually every small cute things..
The street is called Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street.
Don’t forget to try the famous Ichiran Ramen as well…Enjoy bro!
There a pretty cool small record/clothing store based around NY hip hop and 80s B-Boy culture in Shibuya, Tokyo. I bought a few gifts for home there, seeing as I’m a New Yorker. I got a couple shirts and a scale model glue and paint cassette player/boom box. This was two years ago and I forget the name of the store exactly but I remember it was pretty close to NHK studio in Shibuya. There was a mural like two buildings down that I took a photo of. Let me link it. Maybe someone else can help identify it https://imgur.com/gallery/G86D69m
Edit: I found it on the map. It’s called Manhattan Records and I remember that’s exactly why I stopped in.
Hokkaido is a stretch with only two weeks if you’re also visiting Tokyo and Kyoto as a first timer.
I collect as well. I went to these shops based around Tokyo in 2017 & 2018 but didn’t go record shopping in 2019 so make sure to see if these shops still exist. Last year, I did walk by some shops in Koenji so try and do some research there.
**Shibuya**
-Disc Union – 5 levels rare selection is great, so is the hip hop level.
-Manhattan records is a hip hop only shop
-HMV Shibuya – Rare indie, hip-hop, and rare records
-Face Records
-Lighthouse records – house electronic
-Technique – electronic
-Tower records
**Shinjuku**
-Disc Union
-NAT records
-HMV Shinjuku
-Dub Store
**Harajuku**
-Big Love Records
**Kichijoji**
-Disc Union -indie rock
**Shimokitazawa**
-Disc Union
-Disc Shop Zero
-Jet Set Records – Japanese records
-Flash disc records- Old stuff
-Jazzy Sport
**Ikebukuro**
-八勝堂書店
-Disc Union
-Daruma Records – Old stuff
**Some additional links**
https://www.astrangelyisolatedplace.com/blog/2018/7/6/digging-in-japan-ten-of-tokyos-best-record-stores
https://blog.discogs.com/en/best-record-stores-tokyo/
https://www.vinyloftheday.com/tokyo-vinyl-record-stores/
Check out Yanaka near Ueno. It’s one of the only areas to survive the fire bombings of Tokyo during WW2 and has a really retro vibe.
My favorite was upstairs records in shimo-Kitazawa. Recommended. The owner is very helpful and knowledgeable.
Upstairs Records & Bar
3 Chome-27-1 Kitazawa, Setagaya City, Tokyo 155-0031, Japan
https://goo.gl/maps/Aei9jZaY7uB6Ftjj9
https://instagram.com/upstairsrecordsandbar?igshid=9fxez5ar98h7
All of you guys frickin’ rock. Thank you so much for all of the suggestions!!!!! I’m going to start compiling a list and whittling it down to what I’ll be able to manage. So so excited to look into all of these.
I am very late to the party but after reading that you’re a film buff, I felt I had to add this gem of a shop in Okayama 映画の冒険 (eiga no bouken). I know it’s a way from the places you’ve listed, but just in case you decide to head off to the countryside…
It’s FULL of Japanese film posters and memorabilia – you name it, they’ve got it. I spent about 3 hours in there chatting to the owner and asking if he had such and such film poster. I spent so long in there he gave me a bunch of stuff for free haha.
Definitely check out Nakano Broadway. It just reeks of the atmosphere you’re looking for, and it has a few stores that sell CDs and Vinyls. I’ve spotted some pretty interesting albums there (some I regret not buying while I was there!)