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All I am going to Tokyo in January on a buying trip ahead of our shop opening up early next year
Has anyone been ?
I have a huge list of stores to visit but wondered which area we'd be best to stay?
Anyone ?

Hi @dw

You lucky devil.

I can help with this one, being a semi regular visitor... you need to head to Shinjuku station in Tokyo and the surrounding area, particularly if you're on a vinyl hunt.

Shinjuku also good place to stay for a first trip to Japan if you don't mind the hustle and bustle. Not sure of your budget and requirements but have stayed before at the un-flashy but central Shinjuku Prince Hotel.

That means you're also central for all the record shops, like...

Disk Union (the main store) - 6 floors of musical goodness is your first port of call. DISK UNION HERE

See also this blog which mentions the other 20-odd record stores in Shinjuku

VINYL COLLECTOR

Apart from Disk Union which is fairly easy to find as it's in a side street in the main shopping area right by the station, the problem you will have as a westerner is finding the smaller specialist stores. As you probably know, you often have to look up or down to find them as they are not at street level, and asking directions with even GSCE-level Japanese (my level) often results in confused looks.

Good luck - and can I send you a wants list?

Shinjuku aside, Shibuya in Tokyo (with the famous X-shaped pedestrian crossing from Lost in Translation) also good for records. Used to be a six storey Tower Records there, but also smaller stores in side streets.

Near Shimbashi Station is also good place to stay as again you're right near a major train station and can just jump straight on the metro to all the above places. Lots of hotels nearby.

How many people?

I have a list of some hotels that are cheap and convenient, or at least were in 2012
I tend to stay in shibuya for the convenience and it's close to mandarake

But I could get a new list for you if u give me a few days.

Cool thanks guys.
me and my lady .
was looking on air bb too. some decent deals on there.

I have never been before and have always wanted too so we thought we'd go for the trip but also buy records for the store....
very excited.

Should be a very cool trip... one thing I would say though is that, in my humble experience, vinyl that is obviously collector's grail type stuff tends to be priced to reflect that, so not sure how much of a 'bargain' you will get out there, but will be interested to hear how you do...

Liked Disk Union however as it had obsure-ish stuff that you wouldn't normally find in the wild over here at all. Plus they support Record Store Day, I believe!

When will u be there? There is a superfestival on 1/11 that I highly recommend you experience. And you can pass by the budokan

I've only been to Japan a couple of times and didn't do serious record shopping in Tokyo. That said, I do have a couple of suggestions that might prove useful. First off, the Tokyo Damage Report tour guide is chock full of all sorts of interesting and/or weird stuff to check out. The guy who runs the site is mostly into punk rock and the record store recommendations reflect that, but it'll still get you in the right neighborhoods for some serious crate digging.

Also, while it's more of a destination for anime fans, Broadway Nakano is a great shopping complex chock full of weird little otaku shops of all types. In addition to a slew of tiny Mandarake shops (read: all manner of anime/manga nerd gear), many niche shops are tucked away waiting to be discovered. I found a good deal on anime 7" singles in one random record store, so you might find some good vinyl shopping while you're there. And, while I'm sure the store selection has rotated somewhat since I was last there (2007), I fondly remember doing all sorts of damage at a poster reproduction store, doing loop-the-loops with some random kids outside a yo-yo shop, and starring in horror at the Volks dolfie shop. *shudder* Good times!

By the way, if you do make it over to Broadway, be sure to hit up the awesome beetle shop around the corner. It's totally worth an expedition.

I highly recommend you hit up Shimokitazawa. When in Tokyo, that neighbourhood has always yielded the most vinyl gold for me. And the big plus is that there are a crap ton of record shops, plus toy shops, in a very concentrated area. You used to be able to even get a map of all the record stores in the neighbourhood (or at least the last time I was there). And, yeah, there's one of those Disk Union chains in the hood too, not to mention the neighbourhood is cool as fuck.

Oh, and I personally DO believe there are bargains to be had when buying vinyl in Japan. I often find shops there could give two shits about inflated eBay/Discogs value, and I've regularly scored $100+ records for a tenner.

I'm much better with Osaka (which I actually prefer for vinyl shopping), but a few that I remember in Tokyo:

Shinjyuku

Disk Union
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/tokyo ... disk-union
http://diskunion.net/st/shop/e_index.html

Shibuya

Reco Fan http://www.recofan.co.jp/map/map_eng.html

Shimokitazawa

JETSET http://www.jetsetrecords.net/location
Oto no mado　http://www.otonomad.com/about.html
AND sooooo many that I don't remember the names of
 
Harajyuku
 
BIGLOVE　http://www.bigloverecords.jp/index_shop_eng.html
 
Kichijyoji

Coconut Disc　http://coconutsdisk.com/kichijoji/map/
 
Koenji

Enban　http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/venue/8891/Enban
http://enban.web.fc2.com/enbanmap.html

this is awesome guys
Chad I wish I could be there for superfestival ....
Looks like we are now going first week in feb , just booked tickets !

I buy my toys from Mandarake sometimes so excited to go look in the store..
I am not after grail stuff for myself - I am after a killer selection of records to open the store with so lots of Anime & japanese pressings ...

If you happen across "Belladdonna - Masahiko Sato" (on Cinevox) I will happily sort you out and buy sushi for you and yer gal

The next wonderfest is Feb 8.

This list of toy and cool shops is pretty intense but helpful.

http://kaijukorner.blogspot.com/2010/11 ... s.html?m=1

hey Spencer. I actually just posted about trying to find the Vampire Hunter D OST (the '85) on wax if it even exists. If you happen to see it in the flesh, i'd love to know if it actually exists.

Oh balls
we fly out on the 9th !!!

@deathwaltz A dream !!! Lucky man ! Have a good trip

Oh man, there's a bar in Tokyo that you need to check out.

Go to Golden Gai in Shinjuku and check out a bar called Death Match. It's a really small bar in a district that's straight out of Blade Runner. They show horror films all night and the owner, Go, is an absolute legend. The last time I was there I ate popcorn and watched The Thing.

Check out the sign.

That bar is over the road from the suspiria bar !

I had no idea there was a Suspiria bar down there! It looks amazing

If it's crazy bars you're after you may also like this robot themed place (also in Shinjuku, Tokyo). A mate went recently (and took along 3 year old son!)

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2lQCLS8IxY[/video]

WEBSITE LINK

So I'm off to Sapporo in Hokkaido next week and wondered if any fellow spinners on here knew of any vinyl record shops worth visiting over there?

Now while Sapporo is a fairly sizeable city, it's not on the same scale as Tokyo... but if I can find 2 or 3 will be happy.

Any pointers?