Vinyl Shops in Tokyo, Japan and Japan in General

Look for post office atms (green clover sign). Those recognize the U.S. credit card strip. You should be able to press "English" and take care of business.

 

Generally the Japanese grading on used lps is pretty conservative and hence reliable. I am pretty sure any store will allow you to examine the records before buying, just ask (say, "check").

There are plenty of japanese pressings available. Very often the Japanese are a bit purist and seek out 'original' pressings. These are more prominently displayed in the store. The japanese pressings are just stuffed away with the less desirable stuff!

 

Certainly is; here's some pics I took a couple of weeks ago...

 

it was nice hanging out and record shopping with mikemoon and his lovely wife today, happy anniversary ! wow, I was just at Tower Shibuya last week, it didn't look like that, I guess I never looked up...this is a block north of the famous 5 way crossing, the biggest cluster-f*** on the planet...

 

How can you miss something that big? I managed to do it when I was there a year and a half ago. I never thought I was directionally challenged until I went to Tokyo. Who needs street signs?

 

yeah man. it took us about a half hour to find the places in Takadanobada, addresses don't work here..you can walk near a place 3 times and still be lost, even when we all had GPS !

 

One last pic, this time from the station / 5 way crossing end of the street, pretty hard to miss the store if you are looking upwards...

 

Nice fotos. I know those areas well!

 

Good to hear you were happy there. My copy of Exile was ¥6.200, by the way.

 

Yes, yesterday I asked "check" on each pressing and most items typically had a "B" rating and EX - VG+ as well. All items checked out NM to VG+. Many looked unplayed.

The first day I only did one check because all it had was a "B" rating and at the time I didn't understand exactly what that meant. When I opened it, it was NM and looked unplayed so with that information and that the fact that Japanese tend to grade conservatively and also take good care of items, I felt safe and wasn't yet comfortable with asking 'check' on each item. I'm fine asking now!

Even the 2 pressings (Ziggy Stardust and Darkside of the Moon) that I got that are just VG, were only $10 and may still be worth it. The DSOTM is a UK pressing A3/B3 and highly regarded. Hopefully, the surface noise isn't too prominent. I typically don't buy records in VG condition. Most B rated lps are better than 90% of what I see in stores back home or online and I shop with a pretty picky hand and have good stores in my area.

The original pressing thing is a bit crazy. I've seen several instances where the grading is identical or pretty close but the price variance is significant to huge. The UK Who's Next I got is an A1/B2 original pressing in NM and it was just $27, they had another copy much higher but I think it just had a small 'collectors' variation maybe. I bought Boo Radley's Giant Steps UK original pressing and one copy was $15 and the other $26 and the $15 copy was in better condition.

This also explains why there are so many desired UK pressings for UK bands here. I guess they want the original/first press from country of origin too. Some of the US RL pressings go for a lot more here than back home of course but they know what an RL pressing is for sure! It seems US pressings are overpriced compared to what I'm used to but UK pressings are market or below. And of course this makes sense with them being imports. I'm just surprised at the amount of original UK pressings at good prices, they are making up most of my purchases.

I know very few here are into original hip-hop vinyl but Japan is the best place I've ever seen for hip-hop vinyl and the prices are actually a bargain. I didn't come here with the expectation to buy many hip-hop lps but I've already picked up 4lps as they are 1/2 the price than what I can find back home or online. I had to put 5-10 lps back.

I found a sealed previously owned lp that was 1/4 of the current retail price too - it was on my wishlist so I picked it up at this discounted price. And the Dylan Mofi BOB 45 RPM box for $35 has me confused because I saw it at another DU store for $75. I'm glad I picked it up.

I picked up a few Japanese pressings for Stevie Wonder (Innervisions and SITKOL) for $6 in NM condition.

I have noticed that some of the best lps are on the walls but I have also seen some of the better pressings in the bins. I saw the LZII RL German pressing in a bin and it wasn't even filed under Led Zeppelin but in a rock bin with other desired pressings. It appeared to a discount bin but I'm not sure. A lot of lps had little round stickers on them, the LZ II was green. I asked but no one could tell me if it was discounted.

 

We had a great time too. Thanks for taking the journey with us and showing us some new stores!

 

I'm sure the Exile copy I was looking at was not an early pressing as nothing was indicated. This is the main reason I put it back. The other lps I picked up typically said "Original Press, A1/B1, etc." This one did not.

By the way, we went into Time Records and I found a nice Japanese pressing for Innervisions. The owner seemed like a really nice guy!

 

Really cool pictures, I doubt I go into Tower as I'm mainly looking for original vinyl pressings. The Tower I went into in Shinjuku did have one John Frusciante cd but this Tower may have the other. So I may make a brief stop! I want to go to Recofan first.

We took a few pictures yesterday that I will try to post. I was a bit excited at first and forgot to take photos. I will try to remember to take more today!

 

Really enjoy reading about your adventures!

 

has anyone been to Darumaya in Ikebukuro ? They have a lot of stuff I want...next stop!!!

http://darumaya.to/

 

Yes, I've been. Its a little pricey but they have some nice stuff.
I went to their record fair which they have once in a while also in Ikebukuro, it was mostly vinyl and they had vendors from across Japan taking part.

 

Yes, he is.

Though unfortunately it is bad weather in Tokyo today, I hope you enjoy your trip in Japan.

 

IMHO it is partly because many (used) UK pressings have been imported last a few decades, which made the prices a little deflated. Meanwhile US pressing have not been that highly regarded then but people seem to be finding the real value. I may be wrong but this is my impression.

 

Yes it is bad weather but we made it out to Shibuya. We have loved it here. Thanks!

 

This could be right. Maybe next time I need to import some valued lps and trade for Japanese pressings and UK pressings!

 

Overall my impressions of the records have been great and if I had to rank the major ones (that I have been too) that I've been too it would go like this:

1. Disk Union (All Genre Store) - Kichijoji
2. Disk Union (60s-70s Rock Store) - Shinjuku
3. Recofan (All Genre Store) - Shibuya
4. Disk Union (All Genre Store ) - Takadanobaba
5. Disk Union (Hip-Hop Store) - Shinjuku
6. Disk Union (60-70s Rock Store) - Shibuya
7. Disk Union (Hip-Hop) - Shibuya

I didn't mention Time Records, not because it wasn't as good as any of these, it's just a different scale and unfair to compare to the "big ones." The owner was playing some amazing music while I was in there and I'm sure his knowledge in the subject in beyond most. I will definitely revisit his store upon my return to Tokyo.

I still plan to visit 1-2 more stores tomorrow in Ikebukuro (if time permits). I may also go back to the DU Shinjuku 60-70s Rock Store and the DU store in Kichijoji. I left a few items on the table there. I think I've bought 18 lps at the moment. I have to keep the haul under 25. These will be going on my carry on luggage.

We got some decent pictures. I will try to post when available.

 

Mike: you should def checkout that other DU in Shinjuku, the really big one I told you about north of that street,
in that highrise...it's about 1.5 bigger than the one we went to in Kichijoji, it's only about a one minute walk away (or about 5 minutes from the Hotel Century Southen Tower)....and the soul / funk one, DU is open late, DO IT !!!
maybe for a Funkadelic or Curtis Mayfield w/ obi ...did you get anything cool at Recofan?

 

Mike

DU is my favorite as well. You've done well although I hope your better half didn't suffer thru all this ;-).

I suggest you focus on picking up your sought after Japanese pressings. These are usually cheap or reasonably priced compared to imported pressings. You can pretty much find anything you want in Japan if you know where to look and willing to pay but Japanese pressings are going to be much harder to find outside the country unlike US or UK pressings.

 

I will try to go out there today. I'm not sure how I've missed that one. I guess I just saw all the little ones. Yes, Maggot Brain would be a nice one!

 

You are right. I haven't seen the Abbey Road Pro-Use yet or the Darkside of the Moon Odeon pressing. I did see Pink Floyd Meddle with the Gray OBI for about $43. I actually picked up a UK first pressing 1U/1U yesterday for the same price. Maybe I will add both!

I still wish I could exchange the 2 lps that I didn't check before buying...oh well.

Thanks,

Mike