Vinyl Shops in Tokyo, Japan and Japan in General

Yes, all you have to do is politely say "check" and they will allow you to inspect upon check out. I didn't know this the first day of buying but used it afterwards. They tend to grade conservatively and most things that are graded B+ are VG++ to NM but a few were just VG. It's best to check but the Japanese take care of their lps for the most part. I think out of the 25 lps I bought only 1-2 weren't in great condition. The crazy think is Japan is the best place to get rare UK pressings for English bands.

 

Yes. You can do it at the counter. I often see some foreigners checking vinyl on the record bin. But it is not regarded as graceful attitude here.

Also try another branch in Shinjuku. http://diskunion.net/shop/ct/shinjuku_used

 

yeah, for CDs and LPS you say "check" before they ring it up, about half the DUs have LP and CD players so you can listen before you buy
(mostly the jazz ones, this has saved me from buying alotta soft crap)

 

Wow, the shops in Shinjuku were busy , expensive, and had tons of stuff. I did not buy anything because they were either too expensive or I wasn't sure what they were. The new CSNY vinyl 1974 set was 900 dollars, lots of used US stuff for double what I was used to paying, and I wasn't sure what Japan pressings I should get. They do have everything, though, tons of rare stuff , many grey market cds I hadn't heard of like Pink Floyd 1969 sessions. Will need to understand better what I can get here in 60s and 70s rock that I can't get in the US before I go back. These guys know their stuff on pressings, etc. Lucky I have time here to do some research on what to look for that I can't get at home!

 

yeah, some store sells the rare first press CDs w/ obis for REALLY expensive, yet you can find the same thing in another city for WAY cheap (Dylan - Before the Flood: Y5,000 Shinjuku vs Y500 Baba) Shinjuku is the most expensive, if you go further out on the JR Chuo line from Shinjuku JR station you can find stuff for WAY cheaper !

 

Japan is a paradise for almost everyone. Anything you can possibly want as a human is in Tokyo. It's overwhelming, really. Electronics, video games, music, etc. The food is great too. If you ever win the lottery then Tokyo is the place to go to splurge!

 

Holy cow, found Stangelove Records and Lighthouse Records. Tons of bootlegs everywhere. Nobody downloads here? Found a ton of shops in Shinjuku. And little old ladies selling punk in one store and metal in another. Do they like this music? Very high priced US releases and everything catalogued by pressing. A normal pressing of Neil Young old ways was 30 dollars and most any common lp in the US was 20 or more. They must go to the US on trips and buy up everything because they have absolutely everything. Anything you want here you can get but you will have to pay the price. Bootleg CDs by the wallful but 30-50 dollars each. I mean hundreds of Pink Floyd bootleg CDs. First press pressings of Zeppelin and Floyd vinyl A1 / A1 will set you back 1000 dollars. But they do have it all. Amazing day in the stores just looking!

 

you can find hella Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Zep boots used at DU for hella cheap, like Y500

 

Finally found the Recofan in Shibuya, walked out with mint Japan pressings of After the Gold Rush( 1976 reissue), Atom Heart Mother( think 1971 pressing), a Rory Gallagher Irish Tour 1974, and Free Highway. The Free Album is a US copy. Rest are Japanese pressings. All are lps. Got these four and a cool Grateful Dead book from Italy 1988 called Poster Book of the Grateful Dead( 20 different tear out posters book from Italy with cool photos) for 74 dollars. Will go back here again to look for more records. Impressed with the condition and at checkout they carefully took them out and let me look at each one before purchasing. First place I have found with reasonable prices.

 

yeah that's a cool place, but I hate Shibuya, and the DU across the street is the smallest one in Tokyo I think...

 

just fly back from shinjuku.

disk union is my heaven.(easy to go from shinjuku jr station),
recofan is my paradise. ( a little more difficult to find the place but i got bonus/there is guitar shop in the same building. tons of prs,knac,rickenbacker,gibson)

i get everythings that i want.
bbking live for 700 yen.
rory gallagher for 1000 yen.
oasis,whitesnake,bluetone,rolling stones etc.

i will go back next year.
thank rcdupre and yasujiro for information.

 

from my point of view Recofan in shibuya,BEAM building is a good example of RECORD shop.
a lot of space,a lot of records , Cd ,book ,promo-stuff ,old record ,new record.
i saw lenny kravitz circus 7 inches single with the unseen book.<
i saw oasis single with unseen photo.

you will find a lot of cheap used vinyl from all over the world but mostly japanese pressing.
you need 3 or 4 hours to enjoy music happiness there.

but i don't have much time,just an hour in recofan.
so i ask the staff about the vinyl that i want.

they put some special vinyl at their back office
finally i get what i want.

 

Recofan is great, I have been here three weeks and have 29 records, don't know yet how I will get them on the plane and I have two more months here. Stuff I could not get in the US- two Allison Krausse lps- Two Highways and Too Late to Cry, Fairport Convention self titled US pressing,Rory Gallagher- Perfect, two a Little Feet bootleg lps, Neil Young Japanese pressing- On the Beach, Time Fades Away, Zuma. Also, several OBI Zeppelin lps. Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland Japanese pressing with nude cover. All for 700-1400 yen. Want to hit Yokohama this weekend. It's kind of addicting here because it seems these lps are all near mint and available while the Japanese are grabbing up Eric Carmen and other sappy American music. Very interesting place, sensory overload every day!

 

this is what i got from recofan

 

this is from disk union

 

can you give me advice for online shopping vinyl from japan?


since disk union and recofan don't ship worldwide
any places you can suggest.

 

they only ship to people with a Japanese credit card, when I was living in the U.S. I had to get stuff shipped to
my sister-in-law in Tokyo, using my wife's JP credit card, you'd think they realize there's much more profit to
be made shipping internationally, but common sense isn't a high priority here, as I've discovered....it seems they just want to
make it as hard as possible to exist, to justify employing so many people...

 

how about this one/ http://paradise-records.ocnk.net/

 

do you think i can find X-japan vinyl in TOKYO?

i will be back to tokyo next month,
i fall in love with this town already.

 

I don't see why not, they're pretty big....something I've noticed is that the mostly vinyl shops are WAY expensive, like selling common prog stuff
for $300 where you can find the same LP in a thrift shop in Americas for $1, and you have to deal with the bad attitude of the slacker douche-bag at the counter
(so in Koenji, so in the U.S...)..there's some cool mostly vinyl shops I've discovered, the kind that is so jam packed with
stuff you have to step over boxes, but the stuff tends to be WAY expensive...certain Disk Unions (far from Shinjuku, which is the most expensive for CDs and LPs) have
wicked cheap amazing stuff, like $4 w/ obi...(like the one in Baba) if anyone wants any info or a shopping partner, PM me...I've got alotta free time on my hands, if UR into J-Music, there are a few DUs in Shinjuku that will blow yer mind !!!!

 

That's a heck of an offer. I'll most likely try to take you up on it next time I'm going to Japan. Which could be a year or two.

 

Shimo-Kitazawa: Flash Ranch Records, wow this place is cool! Vinyl only, a huge amount of records, and down the street is Yellow Pop (?) another
really cool record store in this GREAT town ! There's also a big Disk Union here...highly recommended !!!
On the Keiyo-Inokashira line between Kichijoji and Shibuya...

 

just fly back from japan/ it' s freezing and raining rightnow . may be 10 c.

i can't find x-japan vinyl, only cd is available.

but i get somethings instead.

 

thank you everybody,
this is what i got.
not much.