Vinyl Shops in Tokyo, Japan and Japan in General

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

  1. Johnny Ryall

    Johnny Ryall Forum Resident

    Here's a sample of what you could find in some of the DxUx across town
    [​IMG]
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    Yep, that's Stones, Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy and Sabbath test pressings. Ready to be bought off the shelf, like it ain't no thang,
    Couldn't believe my eyes.
     
  2. wumpah

    wumpah Member

    Location:
    Planet M78
    How the hell those test pressing copies all end up in japan. Must be the person be very broke to sell them away and i wonder anybody will pay such high premium prices to buy them as collections. You know you can judge the value of a record by it's cover but not those grooves whether are they still in good condition with no distorted sounds especially on the last track.
     
  3. Johnny Ryall

    Johnny Ryall Forum Resident

    Considering some of those records are over 40 years old, maybe the owner just passed away.
     
  4. wumpah

    wumpah Member

    Location:
    Planet M78
    The thing is you can inspect the record cover and the record itself with no cover corner crisp, bend or scratches on the record but the problem is you cant inspect a record with already a spoil grove or super muffled down tone sound unless u bring along a portable
    Micro scope everywhere you go and still even if you brings along all the time do you think the staff will be happy or annoy by such action. Thats the problem with record groove...
     
  5. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    :yikes:Wumpah, do you always check records with a microscope? :wtf:
     
  6. rcdupre

    rcdupre Flying is Trying is Dying

    I've caught the bug, yesterday I had a paid day off from work so I walked from Nakano to Kichijoji stoping at every record store, got Masahiko Satoh, Bow Wow, and Gedo Lps, all with obis, 6 Lps for like ¥2,000
     
    MightyVinyl likes this.
  7. rcdupre

    rcdupre Flying is Trying is Dying

    Coconuts, it's that the place nishi Kichijoji ekimae? どこ?
     
  8. Johnny Ryall

    Johnny Ryall Forum Resident

    They have 4 different locations: http://www.coconutsdisk.com/
    Ikebukuro, Kichijoji, Yoyogi and Ekoda
     
    rcdupre likes this.
  9. yookmook

    yookmook Forum Resident

    has anyone try DISK UNION osaka yet?

    what kind of music do they sell?

    thank.
     
  10. Johnny Ryall

    Johnny Ryall Forum Resident

    This is the blog for that store http://blog-osaka.diskunion.net/
    I can't read japanese so I can't say much about it other than they seem to have got a bunch of metal records in the last few days.

    Also I'll be hitting Japan again around Xmas but plans for Osaka fell thru.
    I'll concentrate on the usual rounds in Tokyo this time and try to hit Kansai next summer.
     
    yookmook likes this.
  11. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    I just booked my return trip to Tokyo for Sept/Oct 2016. 2 weeks again. Hopefully I can hit more stores this time, now that I know the lay of the land a bit better. And hopefully there will be more updates on store locations over the next year or so... that was incredibly helpful on the last expedition.
     
    yookmook likes this.
  12. hockman

    hockman Forum Resident

    Yookmook:

    I don't know but it's definitely on my radar when I go to Osaka.

    BTW I got my Disk Union card and got lots of deals over the recent holiday weekend (last week). I presume that there are points accumulated since they swiped the card before totaling the bill. How do you use those points?

    Thanks again.
     
    yookmook likes this.
  13. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    As I understood it, the point card just gives you a coupon for a discount on another record purchased on your next visit, or something like that. They would give me a little coupon that I would use the next time I made a purchase. If somebody knows different please let me know because I have a ton of points on my card if that's the case
     
    yookmook likes this.
  14. hockman

    hockman Forum Resident

    I'm not sure if that's quite correct because I didn't get any coupons with my card. I think there must be different 'deals' going on at different times - I got some discounts just with the use of the card.
     
  15. yookmook

    yookmook Forum Resident

    unfortunately , membership card is not a reward card.
    If you get it, you can look into your buying history at Disk Union online.
     
  16. hockman

    hockman Forum Resident

    Hmm what's the point then, I don't need to be reminded of how much I've spent! ;)
     
    yookmook likes this.
  17. Stump

    Stump Forum Resident

    Location:
    Adelaide Australia
    Any Info on Osaka Hiroshima Nagasaki or surrounding areas for Vinyl record Shops.Thats where I am headed next trip.I generally max out with 100 records for the plane home.
    Stump
     
  18. Johnny Ryall

    Johnny Ryall Forum Resident

    Just got back from one week of record shopping in Tokyo.
    All good as usual besides the fact that I caught a bad cold that got me bed ridden for a day and a half and made me miss this trip to Nagano.
    Vinyl Japan moved again to another location in Nishi-Shinjuku, not far from the old store. However they still have the same old stuffs for sale I saw the very first I visited the store back in '08.
    The D.U. in Kichijoji was closed for some reason when I tried to visit and had no time to go back again.
    Visited/stumbled upon a few joints I had never been to before in N-Shinjuku and Shibuya: Nat Records REGGAE, Blind Faith (full on bootleg store...saw a Beatles cd cointaing like 20 different version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps :laugh:) and this HMV store one block away from Recofan Shibuya that looks just like a british HMV but it's not :confused:
    Unloaded some cd's and records I did not care about @ Disk Union Shinjuku and it all worked fine. I was just surprised that they did not offer any kind of store credit but just cash.
    Detailed report coming :righton:
     
    Stump likes this.
  19. s m @

    s m @ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Missed this when it was posted, but I'm pretty familiar with the Osaka shops. If your trip is still pending hit me up with a PM, I can get you started. The big concentration is just across the river from (North of)Namba, I believe the area is commonly referred to as America Town or something. And it seems that there's now a Disk Union close to Osaka Station, which I was unaware of when I was last there in October. Also, be sure to spend a bit of time at Osaka Station just to check it out, it's the coolest train station ever. Ride the escalators. Oh, and the water clock.
     
    Gavinyl and Stump like this.
  20. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    I got all excited when I walked in and saw a whole bunch of tables filled with used 7" singles... but there was no organization, most were in very poor condition, and all were extremely overpriced. Probably the sorriest excuse for a record store that I saw in my entire trip.
     
    Sprague Dawley likes this.
  21. MightyVinyl

    MightyVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Does anyone have any information on how to work with a freight forwarder in Tokyo? Last trip, I spent thousands of dollars shipping cases of records home; next trip, I'd like to see if it would be more affordable to palletize a few cases and have them shipped by a freight company. I bumped into a dealer from the Netherlands at one of the Shinjuku DU's and he said that's how he handles his purchases, I only wish I had picked his brain a bit on who & how to do that.
     
  22. steelydanguy

    steelydanguy Forum Resident

    Serious question for those in the know: Is Tokyo the best place in the world today for buying CDs/records? And I'm thinking about English-speaking music artists (U.S., U.K. etc.) when I ask that question.

    It sounds like it might be the case, but I'm just wondering. I'm basing the question on the volume and quality of the brick-and-mortar stores. One might think that places like New York City and London would be contenders, but from what I gather, those markets are in a down period (as are many markets, of course). The Los Angeles and San Francisco areas perhaps might be the best U.S. spots at this time.

    I've never been to Tokyo and am curious because I've heard some people rave about the record stores in that city. Any responses to this question would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
     
  23. yookmook

    yookmook Forum Resident


    i think tokyo is the best place for vinyl lover . (i 'm not sure about CD cause i don't collect CD).

    price is acceptable.
    place for record stores are easier to find. (near train station)and lot of shops in the same zone.
    every style of music are available. tons of vinyl update every 10 days.
    i think they have promotion every month.

    i think you will like tokyo as i do and you will go back again.

    (one thing that i do not like, most of outstanding record stores don't ship to rest of the world/
    they ship in japan only.)
     
  24. yookmook

    yookmook Forum Resident

    i think old school rock vinyl (US pressing) is more expensive in japan.
    but europe and japan pressing is cheap.
     
  25. Potential Energy

    Potential Energy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    I'm headed to Japan in April with most of the time being in Tokyo. Saving up a budget for over there after reading through this whole thread.

    Mostly looking for Jazz/Funk/Soul but I'll keep an eye out for UK classic rock titles as well.
     

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