Vinyl Shops in Tokyo, Japan and Japan in General

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by mikemoon, Jan 17, 2014.

  1. matsellah

    matsellah Active Member

    Location:
    Yokosuka, Japan
    Go the AirBNB route in Osaka. Hotels in the downtown area give new meaning to the term 'expensive.' In fact, they may be the better option for your whole trip.
     
  2. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Thanks folks I really appreciate that advice! I’ll have to think about hitting Kyoto and Kobe then.

    Don’t get too excited about the prospect for any immediate travel to Japan. As noted, they are going to be opening up very slowly beginning with the initial tour groups in June. My bet at this point would be that August or September would be the earliest that you’ll see Japan thrown open wide again. That’s why I’m booking my trip for October.

    So long as monkey pox doesn’t turn out to be the next big thing in pandemics, hopefully that should prove to be a safer bet.
     
  3. Johnny Ryall

    Johnny Ryall Forum Resident

  4. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    Good time to buy with the dollar getting much yen, too bad everybody over there is a dealer now so records are hard to find for the ones everybody wants.
     
  5. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    At end of the year, I’m retiring from my day job after 35 years. Going to focus exclusively on Mightyvinyl.com which has always been my true love anyway. That and a lotta travel!

    The first time I ever traveled internationally was on a trip to London that my mom bought for me, my sister and Mom as a Christmas gift. We also took my sister’s oldest daughter, my niece, and it sparked my lifelong love of travel and formed memories that all three of us will never forget, even though mom‘s been dead for 10+ years now.

    Since I’ve been really really blessed I decided I wanna take my sister, my niece, and her oldest daughter to Tokyo! I already had a trip booked for March so now I’m going to change the dates around to coincide with their spring break at beginning of April as my sister is a teacher and my nieces oldest daughter is 10 years old and still in school.

    I love my trips to Tokyo, but as my wife could not travel internationally I’ve always had to do them solo. This should be incredible. I’ll have three weeks to myself for record shopping, and then a week showing them around my favorite places in Tokyo. Can’t wait!
     
    Stump, steelydanguy, davers and 2 others like this.
  6. mfidelity

    mfidelity Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Sounds like a great trip. I can't wait to get back myself. Did you give up on a Fall trip? I hope Japan opens up in meaningful way (not the current tour group nonsense) while the Dollar is so strong against the yen.
     
  7. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Yes, I ended up booking and then canceling 4 different trips. My next trip, which I’m 90% positive will actually happen, is the entire month of October. Then March and April 2023 will be the trip where I bring the family
     
  8. dlemaudit

    dlemaudit Forum Resident

    Location:
    France, Paris area
    Are you certain you will be allowed to travel into Japan alone ( ie without this current tour operator only silly rule ) by that time ?
     
  9. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Certain?
    No.
     
  10. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Word is that tomorrow, the Japanese authorities will announce the easing of restrictions on foreign travelers, removing the requirement that you be part of a guided tour group, but they may still require tourists to use a travel agent that will then be listed as the “responsible party”. What that would mean is that the responsible party would be in charge of notification if you come down with covid, perhaps even doing contract tracing? It’s a bit unclear to me but more will be revealed as early as tomorrow. It would still be a pain in the ass, just not as much of a pain (nor as expensive) as having to be part of a guided tour group and would allow more flexibility. The thinking is that this may be a preliminary step, while they wait for Covid itself to be re-classified by the government from an epidemic to an endemic illness. Business groups have called for that change to be made immediately as far back as 4-6 weeks ago, so it may be around the corner. There’s still a chance my October trip might come off!
     
    dlemaudit likes this.
  11. mfidelity

    mfidelity Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Just read the announcement has been postponed. Hopefully just for a day or two.

    I hope I don't read this as we'll have to book all travel through a Japanese travel agent. I use miles and points for my trips - can't do that with a travel agent. I hope you make the October trip. I'm booked for March. I'm feeling a little more confident about this now.
     
  12. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Yes, March BETTER be fine! I have a trip booked again in March, and have actually invited my family (sister, 2 nieces and a "grand niece") to join me for a week of it.

    Very disappointed that they only removed the pre-trip COVID testing. No change to entry cap or any other requirements yet.

    Crossing my fingers...
     
  13. Harvey Rickenbacker

    Harvey Rickenbacker Forum Resident

    Good to hear something might be happening at last. Considering Christmas/New Year in Japan. Cold…..but nice and warm in the record shops.
     
  14. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    By a complete stroke of luck, I just happened to have my TV tuned to the news on NHK this evening. I was walking through the living room & noticed that the Prime Minister was giving a speech live. I sat down and watched as he announced that on September 7 they are raising the entry cap to 50,000 daily and allowing individual travelers again. Unfortunately I found out that they still have the requirement that you be part of a tour group. I believe by that they mean you have to purchase your travel from an agent who will then be responsible for remotely monitoring your condition and updating authorities if there are any problems. Since I booked my own trips that won’t work for me, hopefully by October they will have removed that requirement which would allow me to take my October 15 through November 9 trip that I have booked. At least they’re moving in the right direction!
     
  15. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    You mean as an individual you can't get in? Tour group? I'm on a tour for records.
     
  16. mfidelity

    mfidelity Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Getting closer. Kind of a shameless money grab by the Japanese travel agents, hopefully it doesn't last long.
     
  17. Johnny Ryall

    Johnny Ryall Forum Resident

    We should lobby Disk Union and HMV to come up with some kind of plan for vinyl junkies like us
     
  18. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    Disk Union's bread and butter is the stuff they buy hundreds of units of here in the U.S. for their local customers.
     
  19. mfidelity

    mfidelity Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    It's still confusing about how this would work. I think it's a possibility you will only have to pay a Japanese travel agency to process your visa and submit your itinerary to the government.
     
  20. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    Itinerary to the government. Well, I'm buying cheap record albums in Tokyo.
     
  21. dlemaudit

    dlemaudit Forum Resident

    Location:
    France, Paris area
    my japanese wife told me that this travel agency ******** will be lifted from 7 th sept and everyone will be free to travel but still subject to get a tourist visa ( god knows why )
     
  22. mfidelity

    mfidelity Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    That's good news. The visas are so they know how many tourists since there will still be a cap. And to make things as bureaucratic as possible - that's the Japanese way.
     
  23. dlemaudit

    dlemaudit Forum Resident

    Location:
    France, Paris area
    They still can track this with the passport checks at entry gates , have not heard of any capping , anyway its good news.
     
  24. Stump

    Stump Forum Resident

    Location:
    Adelaide Australia
    Not Yet!

    Japan

    07:50 pm - 9 September 2022

    Japan's visa exemption scheme is still suspended. You must have a visa to enter Japan. Individual foreign tourists can apply for a Japanese tourist visa as part of a package tour booked through an authorised Japanese tour operator. Return flights, accommodation and a set travel itinerary, must all be handled by the authorised tour operator. The Japanese tour operator organising your travel will sponsor your visa application. If you have a valid vaccination certificate (3+ doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccine), you no longer need to do a pre-departure COVID-19 test for entry to Japan. Check your airline's testing requirements, as they may have different COVID-19 requirements than Japan.



    We advise:

    Exercise normal safety precautions in Japan.

    Higher levels apply in some areas.
     
    dlemaudit likes this.
  25. dlemaudit

    dlemaudit Forum Resident

    Location:
    France, Paris area
    jeezus . my wife and daughter , starting an internship in Osaka , are in Japan now .
    they sayin its really dead , a place like Kyoto which used to be crowded , is almost desert now , just japanese tourists .
    All shops , restaurants and hotels owners are begging for the gates to reopen , they really struggling
     

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