Record stores in Tokyo

Acke · Post by **Acke** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:13 am

Hey!

I'm going to Tokyo in early April. Anyone with recommendations on good stores?

zeuhl · Post by **zeuhl** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:00 am

Many of the Disk Union stores located in different sides of the city are great, check them out. When you get to the first one, ask for a small map of the others. I think one of the stores was metal-only, but it's been a few years since I visited Tokyo...

gigadeth · Post by **gigadeth** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 12:18 pm

Acke wrote:Hey!

I'm going to Tokyo in early April. Anyone with recommendations on good stores?

i have been tokyo last week

and this trip may be last one for next several years. i have been tokyo almost every year for last 10-15 years. but i was very disappointed this time.

it seems most (or all) used shops are monitoring ebay. their price is near to that in ebay. and considering expensive japanese yen, some cds are more expensive than ebay.

used cd shops are also selling bootleg cds. and unfortunately they don't know they are bootleg or not for some items.

here is 2 homepages for japanese shops.

http://recomints.com
http://diskunion.net

unfortunately they don't have english page. disk union has over 10 shops in tokyo and near tokyo. if you visit tokyo, disk union is the place you must go.
recomints WAS very good place, and now it is SUCK.

TheGreatEscape · Post by **TheGreatEscape** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:26 pm

zeuhl wrote:I think one of the stores was metal-only

Yes, there's a Heavy Metal Disc Union with lots of CD's and also Vinyl. Can't tell you the address right now ...

I'd highly recommend the book about Record Stores - it's called "RECORDMAP 20XY"

http://www.e-hon.ne.jp/bec/SA/Detail?re ... &Sza_id=F2

(sorry, I only have the edition from 2004 but at least it gives you an idea...)

This book has 500 pages and shows ALL record stores in ALL OVER Japan; there are many stores with Blues / Jazz / Soul etc. only, but there are other stores with a Hard Rock / Metal Section ...

I will go to Japan next week (Osaka for record hunting / for the Osaka Thrash Festival, Tokyo for record hunting / visiting friends), so I can try to give you more infos when I get back March 5th.

Or if you like, I can bring you a book from 2011 or 2012 ... will be around EUR 20.00 but this money is very well spent because some stores are IMPOSSIBLE to find without knowledge of the Japanese language. Most of the entrys in the book have a small map next to; can't remember how many times I showed these maps to Japanese to find the store I was looking for.

P.S: A friend of mine went to Japan a few years ago and he didn't know about the book. He tried to find record stores on his own and he didn't find ANY because he was just looking at the wrong place ... and Tokyo is so big, so it has a lot of "wrong places" to look around. If you don't know where to go, your chances to find something good is quite small.

And don't forget: MANY MANY Japanese DO NOT KNOW THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!!! (not even in the bigger cities like Tokyo or Osaka). So if you ask someone in the street, you might not get an answer.

Acke · Post by **Acke** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 2:49 pm

Thanks for the answers! At the moment I'm in Hiroshima but I will get to Tokyo on Tuesday.

I have question regarding two Disk Union areas in Tokyo.

The one in Shinjuku
http://diskunion.net/st/shop/shop_map/m ... glish.html

And the one in Ochanomizu
http://diskunion.net/st/shop/shop_map/m ... glish.html

Which area would you recommend? Maybe both are equally good?
Thanks in advance!

gigadeth · Post by **gigadeth** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:27 pm

Acke wrote:Thanks for the answers! At the moment I'm in Hiroshima but I will get to Tokyo on Tuesday.

I have question regarding two Disk Union areas in Tokyo.

The one in Shinjuku
http://diskunion.net/st/shop/shop_map/m ... glish.html

And the one in Ochanomizu
http://diskunion.net/st/shop/shop_map/m ... glish.html

Which area would you recommend? Maybe both are equally good?
Thanks in advance!

both are good and they are very near to each other (about 10 minutes by train)

TheGreatEscape · Post by **TheGreatEscape** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:00 pm

Acke wrote:
The one in Shinjuku
http://diskunion.net/st/shop/shop_map/m ... glish.html

Nr. 5 = Great store, but quite small and sometimes pretty crowded ... many CD's and a good section of Vinyl. Last time I was there they had a special sale, so my friend bought 350+ CD's within 30 Minutes

Acke wrote:
And the one in Ochanomizu
http://diskunion.net/st/shop/shop_map/m ... glish.html

Nr. 2 = IMO, the better store of both because a bigger Vinyl section. We spent several hours in that store End of February ... I found a FIST (Back with a vengeance) LP in Yellow Vinyl and many many others.

BUT: I highly recommend BOTH Disc Unions if you have the time to go.

Helstar · Post by **Helstar** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 11:01 pm

TheGreatEscape wrote: Nr. 5 = Great store, but quite small and sometimes pretty crowded ... many CD's and a good section of Vinyl. Last time I was there they had a special sale, so my friend bought 350+ CD's within 30 Minutes

How the heck did he carry 350 cds ?! (not even thinking how much he could have spent...)

gigadeth · Post by **gigadeth** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:02 am

Helstar wrote:
TheGreatEscape wrote: Nr. 5 = Great store, but quite small and sometimes pretty crowded ... many CD's and a good section of Vinyl. Last time I was there they had a special sale, so my friend bought 350+ CD's within 30 Minutes
How the heck did he carry 350 cds ?! (not even thinking how much he could have spent...)

they have a shipping service. the postage is 500 YEN per 1 box regardless of the weight. (1 box can contain about 100 CDs) so it is better to remember the address of your hotel. you can receive them on the next day. in my case, i used to use their shipping service when i buy a lot of CDs. some people used to remove their jewel cases on outside of the shop.

TheGreatEscape · Post by **TheGreatEscape** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:37 am

How the heck did he carry 350 cds ?! (not even thinking how much he could have spent...)

He didn't spend this much; all CD's were JPY 100 each.

Some people used to remove their jewel cases on outside of the shop.

Yes, that's exactly what he did

jnfernal · Post by **jnfernal** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:54 am

By the way....I need to place an order at Disk Union but they can not send outside of Japan.....is anybody here from Japan who can help me?

Helstar · Post by **Helstar** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 2:35 pm

I wish there could be someone ... ^^

gigadeth · Post by **gigadeth** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:31 am

Helstar wrote:I wish there could be someone ... ^^

some japanese ebay sellers do that.

Acke · Post by **Acke** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:26 am

I went to the Disk Union-stores in Shinjuku and Shibuya. Both of them were great! Untiil next time I just got to bring some more cash and also visit the one in Ochanomizu.

Record stores in Tokyo

Record stores in Tokyo

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