I've just returned from those two cities. Definitely give the HMV store near Osaka station a miss - they had nothing of interest. And the Tower Records in Akiharbara seems to have gone missing as well. Sorry, nothing good to report but maybe I just missed something.
Much appreciated Boxhead... ultimately, ordering online might be more fruitful.
Definitely check out the multi-story Disk Union store in the Shinjuku District of Tokyo - I can't speak to whether they carry SACDs and such, but when I was there back in 2008, it was stocked with plenty of fantastic stuff and the experience was unforgettable. When I was in the store, our local host pointed out that famed psych/noise guitarist Keiji Haino was shopping in the same aisle as us and I was able to meet him and get a photo. Super cool moment from our trip/tour.Much appreciated Boxhead... ultimately, ordering online might be more fruitful.
But heck I still want to experience walking into that one well stocked store (any store) somewhere far from home, you know?
I posed this question on some FB groups too - I am getting the impression that in general, most stores selling high rez / multichannel content have gone online (over bricks and mortar)
Thank you for this reminder! I had typed some notes while traveling and needed to clean up! Hope this helps!
Which was fun for me as I had all the time in the world.
) (I spent WAY more than I intended to)
Interested to hear this too...any of the new batch of SACDs from Tower?
@Mr. Afternoon, @Clement - just to have a little fun, given the point about the spines in Japanese. How many do you recognize? We shall name this exercise the Alan Parsons Project
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Masayoshi Takanaka - Rainbow Goblins Box, 3 SACD + 2 BD (BDs are upscaled I believe), nice nice nice. unfortunately not flat transfers though, i think the only Takanaka SACDs with flat transfers is the Golden Best one and the Liveteria one@Mr. Afternoon, @Clement - just to have a little fun, given the point about the spines in Japanese. How many do you recognize? We shall name this exercise the Alan Parsons Project
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And Another Mind!
Thank you for this reminder! I had typed some notes while traveling and needed to clean up! Hope this helps!
Top Line: For Tokyo. As of Oct 2023.
I decided not to go to the smaller shops as more than likely they would focus only on LPs and tend to have odd hours / days of operation. I had a flexible agenda and truly enjoyed the "chase" at Disk Union locations. In all honesty it was a gamble from store to store.
- Tower Records: focuses on new condition media of all types
- Disk Union: has significantly more used media + new condition content. Probably over a dozen locations. Each of which has different inventory, not searchable across stores even by their own staff
Unless it’s an in print / newer release, you are going to have to dig through and HOPE
Other thoughts:
For Reference: for those with limited time, would recommend focusing on these.
- The stores were generally busy with enthusiastic customers of all age ranges (Tower Shibuya was an absolute mad house though)
- Disk Union focuses a lot more on used. And had a much wider selection of box sets than TR. Depending on the location DU might have a specialized store or section - e.g. classical only or Punk only etc.
- Osaka had a Classical only shop, nothing else. Luckily I asked if they had any Jazz and he pointed me to the store on the other side of the hall with other genres (yeah, I missed it. But in fairness, it was kinda dark in the building
- High resolution content is not distinguishable easily. Some stores had tiny High Res (“Audiophile”) sections. Most places SACDs etc. were simply mixed in with the rest of the media. Sometimes you can spot the SHM or SACD or Blue Spec logos. But hit and miss. I did manage to find multiple SACDs. It took more effort than I would have liked. Still the thrill of “the chase”… you know
- The spines are often in Kanji / Kana (?) But sometimes a thumb nail of the album cover maybe visible on the spine
- Even though DU stores have the same brand name, it’s almost as if they operate individually. One store cannot look up the used inventory of another or may only focus on a handful of genres.
- If you are looking for Japanese artists (Jazz / City Pop) - you will have to ask the staff for help as names on the artist divider thingies will be localized. No English names
- Language does tend to be gap. But services like Google Translate help both parties
- In general artists will be organized by the first letter (Bill Evans is under B, not E)
- Carry your passport if you want them to adjust the taxes for travelers. You cannot come back the next day (same day is ok I believe) And ,yes - I did not have my passport on me. BTW - in general this will only work at retail stores that specifically say they offer the tax refund + as of now there’s was a 5000 yen minimum spend. For instance Disk Union does not offer the tax refund
- The exchange rate as of Oct 2023, made FOMO a little affordable
- Lastly, I also ordered several disks from Amazon Japan and had them delivered to my hotel. Shipping was relatively inexpensive needless to say.
PS: this was a write up of my Record Store experiences only. The trip has given me a lifetime of memories in terms of culture, food and friendships. For which I will remain eternally grateful and return again & again
- Tower Records:
- タワーレコード渋谷店- TOWER RECORDS ONLINE - 7 floors!
- タワーレコード新宿店- TOWER RECORDS ONLINE - did not visit, but appears to also be multiple floors
- Disk Union:
- https://diskunion.net/pdf/shop/e_shop_routemap_l.pdf
- OCHANOMIZU Station – 6 different stores!
- SHINJUKU Station – 8 different stores!
The Three Blind Mice discs are all standard CDs. With the exception of the Hidehiko Matsumoto Quartet title "Sleepy"Masayoshi Takanaka - Rainbow Goblins Box, 3 SACD + 2 BD (BDs are upscaled I believe), nice nice nice. unfortunately not flat transfers though, i think the only Takanaka SACDs with flat transfers is the Golden Best one and the Liveteria one
That's the Tatsuro Yamashita Best of Collections...not to be a downer but I have NOT heard good things bout the dynamic range on that box
Hiromi Uehara's Spectrum!
I see, some kazumi watanabe, nice
TBM SACDs are nice because they're all flat transfers...
Surprised no new Tower SACDs? Were they not there or simply not your taste? Or maybe they're online only and I'm stupid.
Tower has exclusive SACDs they've been making as of recent...the Jadoes 2022 reissues immediately comes to mind...BTW @Mr. Afternoon - which are the Tower SACDs you are referring to? Do you mean the Sony EP sized ones? Or something else?
I forgot to mention - I got to see Watanabe live with a few special guests..
