This has been the third consecutive year that our family visited Japan, a record (pun unintended). Honestly, my interest in record shopping has driven my desire to go on holidays. Shopping for records in Japan has been very rewarding so far, and I was hoping I can get some surprise finds like what I had last year Tokyo shopping, but this year has not been that fruitful. Partly because I have been more focused on finding the specific J-Pop titles I want, instead of randomly browsing to look for something to buy. I also found that the “bargain bin” items have been greatly reduced from shops like HMV and RECOfan. But I still had fun digging records to buy for friends who gave me a long list. One word of caution: records are heavy, so don’t buy too many or else you risk exceeding the airline check-in weight.
Japan Online Record Shops
Besides physically digging for records, you can also take advantage of online ordering from Japan websites and get them shipped to your hotel or self-collect at the shops (if available). You save a lot on international shipping and gives you incentive to buy cheap records. This time round, I ordered from Amazon Japan in advance and received the order within the duration of my hotel stay (thankfully), and the reason whay I order from Amazon Japan is that it carries titles that are not available from Amazon International.
And what exactly did I order from Amazon Japan? Yiruma’s second and third studio albums.
I also ordered from Record City and opted for in-store pickup instead of shipping, which saved me about S$25. It might seem a small amount, but it is about 30% of the total order cost, which to me is not worth it. I can buy another three records for the price.
CD Japan is another favourite online shop I frequent. I checked if it was any cheaper to ship to a Japan address. While the shipping is indeed lower than to overseas, the price included 10% Japan consumption tax, which is automatically waived for overseas address. Since CD Japan sells only new titles at official price, I am better off buying from physical stores where some sells lower than official price.
Groovin’ Disc Shop, Hiroshima City
The shop is about 10 minutes slow walk from Hiroshima Station. Take the South exit, walk past Minamoa, then slight right to take the underpass towards Fukuya Store. At the underpass, walk past Fukuya and then exit to ground level. You will see the Enko River. Cross the bridge and take the right turn to walk along the road, and you will see the green sign next to Apa Hotel Hiroshima.
The shop has a large inventory of used records across all genres and massive collection of 7-inch. I did find a little challenging to browse the records against the walls as they are filed at the sides. I found a few records of interest but they are not my priority to get, plus the prices are not that attractive. With a limited luggage space, I decided to leave without getting any. But I highly recommend visiting this shop.
Hisamatsu Record at Fukuyama
I walked about 10 minutes from the Fukuyama Train Station, reaching here about 30 minutes before closing time. There are more CDs and very little vinyl records. However, I saw a few rare Hiromi Iwasaki records that I never knew existed. This record store has a long history, and supposedly carry rare titles. If you collect CDs and DVDs, you should pay a visit.
Okayama City
It takes an hour local train ride from Fukuyama to Okayama, or 16 minutes via Shinkansen. This city has a lot more record stores to visit. These are a few I went.
Orab Record
This store is the furthest away from the main train station, so I went here first. It’s not easy to find, but the entrance is next to the shopping street. It’s a small unit inside a building. Enter through the walkway to the right of the camera shop (picture below).
You will see the “Orab Record” signages to guide you to the door on the second floor.
The shop has a good collection of hip-hop, disco, pops. I like that they have yellow slips on each record to describe the condition and other facts. It makes digging a lot faster.
Sayama House
Once again, this store is located inside a commercial building. Enter through the door and take the lift to 5F.
This shop is very cosy, it has casual seats and sofa, serves drinks. Their collection is less pristine and rather small but I can see some uncommon titles when I dig around. This is a place more to chill and groove.
I love the view.
Power Plant Records
This shop is the easiest to find as it is located at the ground floor with clear signages seem from the road.
This store has more CDs than LPs. Again, love the notes that they put on each item to make browsing a lot easier.
Are these stores worth visiting? It really depends on what you are looking for. I would say it is worth checking them out if you are visiting these cities. You never know if they carry that one title that you are looking for all these while. That is the fun part about shopping for vinyl.
But if you talk about the chances of find the records you want, I would say, nothing beats the stores in Tokyo. They are massive compared to the above stores.
Book Off
Besides visiting all the Tower Records, HMV, Disk Union, this time round I visited a few Book Off shops. They are expanding their vinyl and CD collection and have massive stocks at the larger outlets. I went to the one at Ikebukuro and the Gotanda (pictured below) and I was not disappointed.
In fact, I had to visit the Gotanda outlet three times, because it was a mere 5-minute walk from my hotel and every time I visited the place, it was past 9pm and I only had less than an hour to shop before they close at 10pm. Just look at the rows of J-Pop records below.
I was trying to find enough merch to enjoy tax-free. I didn’t even have time to browse all their CD shelves.
Ultimately, I bought just one record. It is the Hiromi Iwasaki “Cinema” 1985 studio album promo sample edition, in near-mint condition, for less than 1000 yen. The album is quite nice to listen to, I probably need to listen a few more times to like it more, but Book Off is a place that you certainly must visit. The Gotanda outlet even stock a rare copy of Mariya Takeuchi “Sweetest Music” 7-inch single at 8100 yen (before tax).
Bonus Travel Tip: Stay at Fukuyama
If you want to visit Hiroshima and the surrounding cities, I highly recommend you to make Fukuyama your base instead of Hiroshima. Here are the reasons:
- Near to Hiroshima Airport. I thought Hiroshima City is nearer to Hiroshima Airport, but actually there was no train service from the airport, so we have to take an airport limousine bus to get to Hiroshima City, and it takes about the same time to get to Fukuyama.
- Cheaper hotel rates in Fukuyama. As a smaller city, the hotel prices are lower which saves your travel expenses.
- Access to other cities. It is only a 23-minute Shinkansen ride to Hiroshima, or an hour Shinkansen to Osaka.
- Awesome view of Fukuyama Castle. It is probably the only city whose train station is next to a Japanese castle that is accessible within a 10-minute walk. Check out the view from my hotel Daiwa Roynet Fukuyama Ekimae.
Fukuyama is a quiet city with a small shopping area, not as touristy compared to Okayama or Kurashiki. But its close proximity to these touristy cities offer a good location with accessible transport at low accommodation rates.