Vacations to Japan have become more purposeful again after I started collecting vinyl. Yes, there are other touristy things like immersing the culture, visiting shrines and appreciating landscapes, but there is also the shopping factor. Japan has always been at the forefront of electronics like portable music players, portable gaming consoles. Then there is also the rich anime and manga merch that my daughter is also attracted to. On top of that, Japan physical media market has never gone away. It’s the only country in Asia that still has HMV and Tower Records outlets standing. Yes, Japanese are still buying CDs and records throughout the digital era, enough to keep the industry alive, enough to see the resurgence of vinyl and to revive the physical media sales market.
In consideration of my family interests, I did not go all out to visit a lot of record stores, only to those that are within the vicinity of the shopping areas. I was also not in the “buying-spree” mode, rather, I wanted to check out what the record stores had to offer. So I tried to spend within an hour max at each store so that I can visit more stores rather than digging at lengths in one store.
The general impression is that the prices of second hand records are cheaper than in Singapore. There are more titles listed at around S$10-30 and looks in really great condition. The grading label also helps in making informed decisions on whether the price is worth it. Little wonder why some record stores in Singapore actually come to Japan and buy from these retail stores and resell.
Here are the record stores I visit, in the sequence of my itinerary:
Soundpak (Nipponbashi, Osaka)
2 Chome-4-3 Nanbanaka, Naniwa Ward, Osaka, 556-0011, Japan, https://www.soundpak.net/ , https://soundpak.exblog.jp/
I originally pinned “Wild One” record store, and when I reached this address, I saw a CD store at the ground floor with a Japanese text, so I assumed this was the store. I only realised this is another record store after I bought something and they provided a plastic carrier bag without charge. Soundpak occupies L1 (CDs, DVD, cassettes) and L2 (vinyl). Wild One is at L3.
The Soundpak L2 is split into two rooms. One is the jazz modern (pop, rock, jazz, etc.) genres, and the other is the Classical genre. In the interest of time, I only checked out the “bargain” section of Classical records and found a mint coy of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 conducted by Leonard Bernstein at 330 yen, which is about S$3 thanks to the strong Singapore dollar. I also observed that box record titles are quite cheap, averaging less than S$30 for one that has 3 LPs and more. All records are packed with fresh plastic sleeves and do not feel grimey when browsing. I resisted buying box sets because they are so heavy.
I then walked down the same road and came across another record store, not knowing that this is also the same Soundpak chain of store. There were mostly pop, rock, and of course, J-Pop. I spent time on the 7-inch single section as they have a 5-for-500yen offer. Again, the records are wrapped in clean tight plastic sleeves, making them feel that they are in excellent conditions.
Mint Record 2 (Nipponbashi, Osaka)
5 Chome-9-13 Nipponbashi, Naniwa Ward, Osaka, 556-0005, Japan http://www.mintrecord.com/
There are several Mint Record outlets, and I visited this one, which sells a lot of LP, CDs, DVDs and LDs (laser discs). The aisles are narrow and there are boxes of records everywhere, including at the knee level, making it a big challenge to crate dig. The plastic sleeves are in poorer condition. It feels less conducive to hang out, but if you feel lucky, you might find something. I focused on the bargain section (330-yen items) and did not find any that makes me want to really grab them.
HMV Record Shop Shinjuku ALTA (Tokyo)
This record shop is conveniently located next to the Shinjuku Metro exit B13 and B12. The store is spacious, clean, well-organised, very comfortable to browse titles. They cover many genres, but I feel the titles are rather limited. I didn’t find anything that I like.
Disk Union (Shinjuku)
There are five Disk Union stores in Shinjuku, each specialising in specific genres, making them one of the best record stores to crate dig, as they are able to offer a massive number of titles. Just look at the list of genres at each store and the number of floors!
I was not aware of this map, but lucky for me, the first store I visited was “No. 3” which focuses on Classical genre. And the store happened to have a special one-day sale. In additional, you get additional 5% discount if you follow their Twitter (i.e. X) account. I had a field day here, buying a bagful of records, with each title less than S$7. There are also pricier records but I feel a higher sense of satisfaction getting bargain-price titles that are actually good recordings. Like Glenn Gould’s Bach Well-Tempered Clavier for less than S$6, albeit some groove noises.
It is also at this Disk Union store that I found that you can actually test the records before purchase. I tried doing for one record and I kind of gave up doing for the rest, because it can be quite a mess to remove the records from the sleeve and managing the loose price label which also tells the record condition.
I bought in faith without actually testing, because they looked pretty good externally, frankly, I don’t expect much out of records that I paid below S$8. Records condition labelled “B” are VG+ and they looked almost NM visually. I can imagine the level of quality if the used records were marked as “A”.
An interesting observation is that they have a larger CD section than LP, reflecting the higher demand for the compact disc than analog records. It is a very healthy phenomenon where the locals continue to value physical recorded media, while in Singapore, a lot of people are trying to throw away their cassette tapes and CD collection believing that they are redundant after ripping the discs. Well, legally, they no longer retain the rights to own the MP3 if they discard the originals.
I visited a few other Disk Union stores but did not find any more records to buy.
Tower Records (Shinjuku)
The Shinjuku store spans 2 floors at Flags, opposite the Shinjuku Tourist Information Centre. It has more new titles than second hand, and more CDs and other media than LPs. Out of sheer luck, I found the brand-new Hiromi’s Silver Lining Suite LP here, and album that has been in my Amazon online cart for weeks. Thanks to tax-free shopping, I got it at a lower price than what I would have to pay from online shops. I also bought a limited edition Ghostbusters Original Score LP in slime green pressing at a reasonable retail price instead of an inflated price at Discogs. Anyone reading this, it’s up for sale at Carousell.
I did not visit the Shibuya outlet, which I regretted because the shop was located north of the train station and since I already visited one Tower Records, while I decided to walk towards the west where there were more record shops like Manhattan, Face Records, Next Records, and another HMV record shop. I thought covering 4 shops is better than one. Turns out, the indie shops were small and cramp, although their titles are quite unique. At Next Records, the shelves are filled with 12-inch singles, while Manhattan Records are loaded with hip-hop, R&B genres.
RECOfan (Magnet by Shibuya109)
https://www.recofan.co.jp/map/magnet-by-shibuya109.html
RECOfan is also another record store conveniently located next to the Shibuya train station exit A12. I like their store layout and its range, with a lot of bargain crates from 100 yen. Here, I bought a few more records in the Classical and movie soundtrack section, though not enough to hit 5000 yen to enjoy tax rebate, because the titles are too cheap!
Closing Thoughts
It is so easy to find bargain price records in Japan compared to Singapore! Among all my dozen-odd records I bought, all pre-loved records cost less than S$10 each, while brand new titles are 10% off retail price due to tax-free, so they are definitely cheaper than buying from any overseas stores. And if you are truly looking for near-mint copies of some titles, you are sure to find them at a rather reasonable price, far cheaper than a same-condition item in Singapore. If an item is really priced at a premium, it is due to its market value and not due to an arbitrary mark-up. Of course, some items could be overpriced due to its scarcity, so just do some online research before committing to buying. For tourists, spend more than 5000 yen at the bigger chains and you can knock off 10% from the after-tax price tag.
Thanks to its massive collection of CDs and LPs, Japan has become one of my favourite destinations in Asia for vacation and shopping. Hopefully, my next trip to Japan will allow more time to dig every shelf and uncover the titles that I want to add to my carefully curated analogue collection. I would certainly want to spend more time at Soundpak, RECOfan, Disk Union, and Tower Records Shibuya.
