After my first Japan record shopping experience in 2023, I was more prepared for my Japan trip in 2024, though I wondered if I was going to get any more records because I don’t have a long want list. Ever since my last trip, I found an online site, Record City, that offers so much convenience because their website offers access to hundreds of thousands of their catalog, which beats going to a physical record store and dig. The only drawback is that I was unable to see and feel the real record nor to test whether they sound good. But for over a year of shopping, they have largely not disappointed me. The shipping price is also reasonable and their packaging is first-rate.
As it turns out, I have had the best gains at the most unexpected places.
Your mileage may vary, but for my case, I am really digging for a needle in a haystack. The genre that I am looking for is really obscure that most record stores do not have a specific section for it. I am basically looking for New Age Instrumental artists like Yanni, Yukie Nishimura, Secret Garden, George Winston. I am also looking for movie soundtracks, specifically Jurassic Park, Star Wars Episode 4, Dances With Wolves (and I have a story on that, read on). Also, I hope to get some good value records of Tatsuro Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi, where there are plenty of their records online but I really hope to snag a copy that is more reasonably priced. Throughout the trip, I was struggling between getting the “FOR YOU” first press vs. the remaster repress that was available at every record store (still got stock), because after my experience with “VARIETY” Promo Press, I am quite convinced that the non-remaster edition will sound better on a vinyl, and the remaster should be listened on a digital media (like CD).
And here are some of my new experiences and recommendations of my record shopping at Fukuoka and Tokyo Prefectures.
Hakata – HMV and Tower Records
I spent 7 days at the Kyushu region but was doing mostly sightseeing and not so much on shopping. So I only have about half a day to do that. At Hakata Station, there is a HMV & BOOKS and a TOWER RECORDS store. As per the store name, HMV & BOOKS has only a small area for vinyl records, and an even smaller space for used records. Here, I bought my first record for the trip – Do As Infinity “Tangerine Dream” single.
Tower Records at Hakata similarly has a modest vinyl section, and they do not carry used records. They do stock some old titles, which is one good thing about visiting stores outside Tokyo.
Kichijoji Minamicho, Musashino, Tokyo, Japan
The most surprising discovery for my 2024 vacation is Kichijoji Station (吉祥寺駅), where I would not have known if I did not visit the Ghibli Museum which is a 5-minute bus ride. In fact, we were returning from the museum visit when I saw a record store the bus passed by.
Fortunately, it was a short walk from the train station so I left my family and headed there. There are lots of food choices along this street.
Rare Record
1 Chome-1-8 Kichijoji Minamicho, Musashino, Tokyo 180-0003, Japan
Website: https://rarejixiangsidian5.webnode.jp/
This store has a healthy mix of pop, jazz, rock, Classical, instrumental, Japanese traditional, J-Pop. They carry vinyl records and more compact discs.
The website shares that this record store is run by the owner himself and has been around for over 30 years. I found 2 records here: a Japan 2nd press edition of Star Wars OST and Casiopea Photographs album, both at less than 1000 yen each. The Star Wars copy was a surprising find, as it is very rare (pun unintended) to find a copy for less than $10. On the record description slip, it was mentioned that the record is warped but plays well on turntable, so I decided to just take it. But it turns out that the warp was very minor, though the groove has general light crackles, not the cleanest sounding copy.
The owner accepts credit cards and provides plastic bags for free. I would highly recommend visiting this place to get local titles.
Kichijoji Shopping Streets
I was pretty satisfied with the buy and thought we could head back to Tokyo City, but the family found out this place has a lot of stores for everyone. I found a few more record stores, my wife found her favourite DAISO, my daughter’s ANIMATE. There is also a sheltered shopping street.
They also converted some streets into tiled pavement, not very common in Japan urban cities. The buildings are not so high, and makes the place feel less rushed, more space to slow down. But the human traffic is still there, so neither does it feel deserted. It has the right amount of space and people, and the retail mix is enough to spend quality time here without feeling bored. There are also some animal cafes.
Since I have done my shopping, I agreed to chaperon my daughter to her ANIMATE store, located at PARCO. But I was secretly looking for the Disk Union around the area.
Disk Union Kichijoji Parco
Japan, 〒180-8520 Tokyo, Musashino, Kichijoji Honcho, 1 Chome−5−1, B1F Parco Kichijoji
It took me a while to find it, because I did not know it was actually inside PARCO. Well, it is mentioned in the address, but I have no idea “パルコ” is translated to “Parco”. The photos on the Google Maps was rather misleading because I think there were photos of their previous location which appeared to be facing the street.
It is a smaller store than the ones in Tokyo City but feels cosy and welcoming. The shelves are made of natural wood finish, and they have a good mix of collection from each genre, including Classical. Plenty of used CDs can be found here too. I left with a copy of Kylie Minogue 12-inch single “I Should Be So Lucky”.
If your kids love anime merch, Parco is a good place to keep them busy while you spend time digging for records.
HMV Record Shop Kichijoji
Japan, 〒180-0004 Tokyo, Musashino, Kichijoji Honcho, 1 Chome−11−5, Building A, 2F Coppice Kichijoji
This HMV shop is larger than the Disk Union, so if you only have one store to go, head over to this one. I would say the collection and browsing space is more appealing to the casual shoppers. The used CD collection is much smaller.
The one thing that I dislike about this store is that the record testing station uses inferior setup. Actually, I am not sure if the record I tested actually sounded bad or was it the mediocre cartridge. I found a few bargain copies of Tatsuro Yamashita “FOR YOU” (less than 5000 yen complete with obi and inserts) and was really excited about getting a copy, but I just could not get past the sound quality.
I left without buying anything.
HMV Record Shop ALTA
From one HMV to another, I have visited this outlet in 2023, and since it is so near to the train station, I hopped by again.
Other than the usual genres – Pop, Jazz, J-Pop, Rock – what I like at this outlet is their wider range of collection for modern-era soundtracks.
They also carry some New Age instrumental titles. I would have bought this “Piano One” but there are too many light crackles when I tested it. Not worth 2200 yen.
But here is the best part of my vinyl shopping.
Yukie Nishimura Debut Album – Angelique (1986)
I recently had a massive interest to collect Yukie Nishimura’s vinyl records. She launched her debut album in 1986, during a time when CDs are already getting popular. So, across her discography of over 40 titles, she actually only released three titles on vinyl record format.
While there are some listings on Discogs, I want to try my luck during this Japan trip, though New Age piano genre is not popular in the used record market. After collecting vinyl for 3 years, I always believe that getting the record that you want is only a matter of time, patience and luck. Even if you have missed the chance, you will eventually get it, if you can wait for the right moment with the right price that you want to pay for. I think that is what record collection is all about. The collectors themselves have understood the value of what they own. Some day, that rare record in the shelves will find its way into the marketplace to be traded for money – unless of course the record is lost or damaged beyond value.
So, at this HMV ALTA store, I decided to approach the sales staff to ask them if they have a copy of Angelique, knowing quite well that they do not, because their catalog is maintained online and if they had a copy, it would show on the HMV Japan website. True enough, they replied they do not have this title.
Instead of leaving the shop, I continued browsing around, and came across this bargin section of “550 yen J-Pop”. Yukie Nishimura is technically not “J-Pop”, but I wasn’t really looking for her album, just browsing to see what they have. As my fingers ran through the upper section of the record sleeves, a familiar image captured my attention – a light cyan obi strip with dark wood-brown cover print. I lifted the album and look what I had found.
The first shock is to find the album. The second shock is the price – 550 yen!!! The third shock is the condition – it looks pristine!!!
Many thoughts ran through my mind. Why so cheap? Is there a defect? Was it a filing mistake? I don’t care, but I promptly headed to the counter and showed the staff that THIS IS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. She smiled but not knowing the delight I felt at that moment. I was so elated that I did not even bother to check the condition. I gladly paid for it, even if it plays bad, because that cover looks so good, capturing Yukie’s youth and innocence in her debut commercial album. This is worth gold.
To find the copy is great luck. To find it at a bargain price, is a lottery.
Luck, as it appears, continues till the last day of the vacation.
Face Records Miyashita Park, Shibuya
Last year I visited the Face Records at Shinjuku, it was rather cramped so I did not quite enjoy my time there. This time, while the family was visiting Miyashita Park, sitting in the food court, exhausted from a day of shopping, waiting for the time to go to airport, I realised that there is a Face Record store in the same building. So I checked out the store, told my family that I was not likely to buy any more records because the luggages were already packed and waiting in the hotel lobby. But wifey did add before I left, “If you find anything, just buy, we’ll find a way to pack into the luggage.”
Thanks to her blessing, I really found something that I cannot let go.
It’s a small open-concept shop, catering mostly to casual shoppers and not serious crate diggers. Even so, they do carry a few titles that I have not come across in other stores and I would probably have bought them, if not for my ultimate find.
Yukie Nishimura LP – Lyricsme (1987), Dolce (1988)
To find one title is luck. To find two titles in the same shop is destiny. It is as if someone knew I was looking for them, and decided to stock them at this shop so that I can convenient buy them and complete my collection.
And so, in just a single Japan trip, I completed my record collection of Yukie Nishimura’s LP titles.
RECOfan – Magnet at Shibuya, Seekbase at Akihabara
In 2023, I visited the Magnet outlet and bought a handful of bargain titles (read about them here). This time round, when I visited the same Magnet outlet, I didn’t get that many hits. Actually, I did find a lot of titles but I already have them. And because this was the first day I arrived at Tokyo City after Fukuoka, I was in a bit of a rush for time, so I gave a brief browse across the entire shop. I reckon I could easily spend the entire day here to completely browse the whole shop.
They have all the genres that I am looking for – Soundtracks, Classical, New Age. I think this is the only store that I found George Winston’s records, albeit yellowed. They have a lot of old titles, and plenty of bargain sections like 100-yen.
Later part of the trip, my family visited Akihabara and after doing a bit of group shopping, decided to split up. I took the chance to walk to the RECOfan outlet at Seekbase, which is away from the main shopping area. The walk there is quite dimly lit, and this shopping cluster is below the train tracks.
The layout is similar to the Magnet outlet. There are so many records and CDs that they were displayed all around the shop perimeter, away from shop surveillance. But I guess Japan is such a safe and trusting place to do that.
I reached the shop at 5.50pm. I stayed until the shop closed at 8pm, and I’d wish I had more time. This is the most time I spent in a single record shop for this trip, and the reason for this is area:
Located opposite the main shop area, this unguarded space contains sale items. For all the 280-yen titles, if you buy 5 titles, instead of paying 1400 yen, you pay only 1000 yen – a 28% discount! Over the next 90 minutes, I went through this section thoroughly without missing a crate. I probably browsed over 3000 LPs. My strategy was to pick up any titles that I am interested, and then I will decide later whether to buy.
The thing about Classical music is that the same composition is recorded by many different artists, so I would have no idea if the interpretation is something that I liked. So on the spot I would check on Spotify or YouTube to find the recording and sample it. Fortunately, I was the only person throughout the period, so I took liberties and placed the records all over the place.
After shortlisting about 18, I decided to further cut my purchase to just 10 pieces. I was undecided with some of the titles, because the condition looked so good that it would hard to pass. If I had more luggage space, I would have added more. The thing about Japan-pressed Classical titles is that they aren’t particularly of high value because firstly, they are repress editions from the Europe master copies, and secondly, their mastering is arguably step-down from the Europe copies. Nevertheless, there are some titles that are sought after, especially those with obi strips. And they are cheap to own, which encourages binge buying.
Tower Records Shibuya
Last time I didn’t manage to visit this outlet, so this time round, I finally made it. Well, despite occupying the entire 8 floors, the vinyl section only occupies one full floor, while the other floors cover massively popular music genres and non-vinyl medium.
It is really a space for performances, events and album launches, which really encourages the growth of physical music sales and music appreciation. Japan remains a unique region in today’s music industry where CDs and records sees sustained sales.
I was glad to see a large collection of New Age genre records. They have titles from Olafur Arnalds, a top instrumental artist from Iceland.
Tatsuro Yamashita is still heavily promoted in Tower Records, given he is the king of Japan City Pop. There is even a small area where you can get his merch and gachapons.
If you want to buy Tower Records merch, this is the place to go. This store also has the privilege of doing free gift wrapping using their in-store plastic bags and gift stickers. So if you are buying records for your friends, it would be nice to buy from here.
Epilogue
During this trip, I bought 20 records and spent 15,490 yen (about S$140). That means I spent on average about S$7 per record, which is a darn good deal. Never in Singapore can I spend less than S$10 to get records of such quality. I also did not buy any new titles because generally, international titles imported to Japan are more expensive, unless of course it is Japan-press editions or where there are heavy discounts.
If you ask me whether I prefer to shop online or in-store, my answer would be both have their benefits. For online shopping, I find it easier to browse for titles because I can go searches, I can simply scroll the pages effortlessly. If I have specific titles in mind to find, online shopping is the most effective.
For in-store shopping, I find it most satisfying to browse the bargain sections where the titles are randomly arranged. This allows me to come across titles that I would never have thought of searching, or titles that visually appeals to me that made me want to find out more about the artist or the album.
What I hate about shopping at some record stores is that the aisles are very narrow, and the records are packed too tightly until I cannot flip the records on the rack and had to lift up the records one at a time.
Will I never stop collecting records? Well, I am already slowing down, because I am running out of space to store them in my room. I am also re-evaluating my collection and intend to collect only records that have special meaning to me. I no longer buy vinyl for their audio quality, because they will never surpass digital recordings. I am very interested to find albums with original analogue mastering because they sound noticeably different from the digital remasters and owning these original analogue master copies allow me to enjoy the recordings in its true original sound.
To read more about my insights about collecting vinyl records, check out the rest of my articles filed under Vinyl Archives.
