Vinyl Shops in Tokyo, Japan and Japan in General

Yes:

Japan, 〒332-0012 Saitama-ken, Kawaguchi-shi, Honchō, 4 Chome−3−6, 本町 ハイツ 1F
+81 48-222-0221
yellowpop-kawaguchi.com

 

I was just in Kobe last week and could not find this shop. I am fairly certain I found the right arcade under the train tracks, but I did not find the store or the other ones there were supposed to be in the area. Are they still there? Did I miss them or are they gone?

 

anyone try flash disc ranch at shimokitazawa ?

please tell me.

 

Yeah that place sucks, imo...just about the coolest looking entrance of any record store ever, a really nice and friendly Eigo speaking owner...wicked expensive records, but it does have a massive ¥300 bin...Shimo has one of the nicer DUs a few blocks NE, and a really cool town and stores altogether
...a few stops from Shibuya on the Keio Inokashira sen, save your ¥ and take it to the terminus at Kichijoji and check the two DUs, Rare, and Banana Records ekimae, the best city in Tokyo

 

I've buried myself in the DU in Kichijoji many times but what are Rare and Banana like? What sort of records do they sell?

The DU at Shimo is actually not bad at all.

 

Apologies, I didn't catch this before to reply. I haven't been there in almost a year now, but I'd find it nearly impossible to believe that all those shops would be closed in a short period of time. Yet they are nearly impossible to miss, I'd think. You just get off at the JR Motomachi station, go down to street level, and walk West beside the tracks (the same direction the train was heading if you're coming from Sannomiya). Soon you can duck under the tracks into the shopping arcade. A few minutes later you pass Freak Out, seconds after that Wild Honey Pie (one of best ones). A few minutes further and you come to a few more, one-by-one. I'd be totally shocked if they're not still there.

 

thank, i will be in japan next week.

 

Excellent, yookmook.

I've in the past focused more on the specialist DUs (jazz, world) stores but of late, I've been drawn to the general DUs that sell all genres. The Kichijoji, Ochanomizu and Shimokitazawa general DUs are good for interesting stock.

 

Top 3 places you need to go, all on the Chuo line from east to west: Ochanamizu > Shinjuku > Kichijoji

 

Also the 2 biggest vinyl shops are in Shibuya, on the same block (HMV and Recofan) the Keio Inakashira line starts in Shibuya > Shimokitazawa > and ends in Kichijoji....good luck finding it at Shibuya Eki, lol! If ur into Jazz the biggest jazz vinyl shop (on the planet?) is at Shimokitazawa DU

 

Don't you mean the DU Jazz store in Ochanamizu?

 

Actually, I just wandered into the HMV in Shibuya about a month ago - and just like last year - it was filled with way way way overpriced items. Most of the stock at DU's are actually graded fairly accurately but HMV had no grading but the prices were all above what you would pay for an "A" graded item (NM) but were usually VG or worse condition.

Am I missing something? I only spent about 30 minutes in there this trip, looking at the collectors stuff around the perimeter, and the bargain bins sort of in the center.

 

I've always found some things from my wants list in this store. But it does require time and patience.

Their upstairs soul section is always worth a look and the first place I head for. I always find some things at reasonable prices up there.

I agree there's a lot of overpriced stuff in the downstairs area. If you are patient you'll find things but their pricing is all over the place. If it's an original pressing from a classic act it's likely to be way overpriced. But reissues are more reasonable. And they do have a massive range.

 

Just stumbled upon a new HMV record store in Shinjuku today, opened on 10/1. It's at the 6th floor of a depato NE of JR station. It's twice as expensive as the already WAY too expensive one in Shibuya! But you should check it out anyway just to look at the rare stuff they hope to sell to some idiot or millionaire, really huge beatiful store.

 

Thanks. I figured out later that I had not gone far enough. I went from Sannomiya to Motomachi and back, should have gone past Motomachi, but it looked like things ended there. My mistake. Someday, maybe I'll make it back.

 

just fly back from japan /here are some vinyls that i get

 

mostly from disk union shimo,shinjuku,shibuya,ochanomizu

 

and kichijoji/ there will be sales on every wednesday at diskunion shimokitazawa
10-40 percent discount

 

good luck my friends

 

i wish i could take a photo at the coolest looking entrance of flash disc ranch shimokitazawa/
but it's closed.
only 5 o'clock /



damn.

 

If anyone's in Shinjuku tomorrow, Richard Pinhas of Heldon is playing a free show at the main DU store, prog floor at 6 pm

 

Congratulations, yookmook. Among your usual haul of rock stuff you have a Keith Jarrett Koln Concert!

Disk Union are the best stores for me. I went recently to many small specialist stores and got a very cold, unfriendly reception. No welcome cheers, just suspicious stares. At one, the staff kept staring me all the time, looking away only when I looked up from the racks. I hightailed out of there. I don't need this kind of sh**it.

Having said that I did go to some smaller stores with friendly owners who were happy to chat and recommend stuff.

 

Yeah, there's one in Koenji and one in Ikebukoro and one in Kunitachi where the owners are unfriendly assholes, but they also also happen to be EXTREMELY over-priced, so I never go there anyway..

 

Ironically, the store that was most hostile was called "Smiles" in Osaka. Go figure.

 

i find old footage of shinjuku in 80's
studio alta was at the same place,
i wonder about disk union in shinjuku / was there since 1980.?

To be young in Tokyo in the 80s-90s was glorious