Tokyo record/CD stores

[asiufy]

Guys,

Going to be in Tokyo next month (December 8-18), with some time for record shopping. Any tips?
I know we got at least one japanese gnostic, so any help is appreciated!
Of course, I'll buy beer and food for the local who helps me around, since I expect major trouble navigating that city :)


alexandre

[sonic]

Disk Union should cover most of your needs:
http://diskunion.net/st/shop/e_index.html

[Dean Watson]

Gardenshed and Marquee ( but I don't know exactly where they are .. )

[nnknsh]

Sadly too many good stores have closed in the last few years but there are still few worth a visit.


------------------------
Shinjuku

* East Exit

Basically the various Disk Union stores are the place to visit.

If you are looking for a new copy of Japanese major CDs, the Tower Records have good stock (due to it's size) and easy to access (on the building right next to the south exit of the station), and are open till late (23:00) so it would be a good bet as well.
Speaking of Tower Records, their Shibuya Branch is even more larger, and have bigger stock, so visiting there might be good idea in getting a new copy of Japanese releases in general.
Though, you should note that most of the Japanese releases only have the artist name / title written in Japanese, and the shop clerk at these non-Prog specialist store would likely not ever heard of Kenso, Ain Soph, Tipographica, Geino Yamashirogumi... so you may better have some basic comand of Japanese in order to find what you need there.

Back to the Shinjuku Area Stores.
* Disk Union Shinjuku Progressive Rock branch.

3-32-8
Shinjuku
Shinjuku-Ku,
Tokyo

TEL 03-3352-2141

web : diskunion.net/shop/ct/shinjuku_progre

Open 11:00-21:00 (Sun 11:00-20:00)

5 min walk from higashi-guchi (east exit)

Best place to look for used Prog CD in general and the Mini-LP type releases.
However, for new CD tend to focus on the more mainstream / known acts.

Have the biggest Used CD section, good number of rarity, though some thought after item tend to be overpriced.

Reasonably large Used vinyl section.
Again, tend to overprice the more in-demand items (originals of the Big Name Brit bands and Vertigo / Neon sort of things, the more known Italian prog and Krautrock).
Used to have good bargain on the more obscure side of things, but that chance is getting slimmer and slimmer.

Other Disk Union stores in Shinjuku,
* The used CD store (http://diskunion.net/shop/ct/shinjuku_used) also have good number of used CDs (and bit of Used vinyl copies as well).

*The Jazz store (Just across the street from the Prog store) have good number of used items if you are interested in Jazz and it's variations.

Disk Union branches in other areas that are worth visiting,
* Ochyanomizu (http://diskunion.net/shop/ct/ocha_ekimae)
* Shibuya (http://diskunion.net/shop/ct/shibuya_used) *The Jazz floor at the basement also have good selection

--------------------------
Shinjuku
Nishi-Guchi (West exit)

* HAL'S

306 Shinjuku Daikan-Plaza B Building
7-10-17, Nishi-Shinjuku,
Shinjuku-Ku,
TEL: 3364-1577
map http://www.hals-jazz.com/about/googlemap.htm

Specializes in Jazz vinyls. No rock or prog, but good number of Avant / Free / Electric side of Jazz (and plenty of Be-Bop and Post Bop as well).
FYI, it'd take about 15-20min walk from the Disk Union Stores at the East Side of Shinjuku.

* Garden Shed

3F Daiichi Shida-build,
7-16-15, Nishi-Shinjuku,
Shinjuku-Ku,
Tel 5389 - 6721

web
http://www.gardenshedcd.com/

Open 11:00 -20:00 (Sun 11:00 - 19:00)
closed peridically

New CD only.
More on the obscure side of Symph / Proggish Prog.
Used to be 100% prog, but in the last few years started lean towards Euro
Folk/Pop. Some are nice, some crap (Euro-Vision sort of things with nice looking women
singing).

* Eurasia
Used Vinyl only.
Very good stock / very bad price.

http://www.record-eurasia.com/

(English list available so you can check their stock and price there).

2F Daiichi Shida-build,
7-16-15, Nishi-Shinjuku,
Shinjuku-Ku,

Tel : 3362 - 2639
There is a link to a map at the top page.

yes, the same building with Garden Shed, so you can shoot two birds with one shot, though these two seems to be less intersting for the collectos from overseas (for GS, you can do lot better by using Greg Walker, Laser's Edge, Wayside, Doug Larson..., and Eurasia tend to be waaaaaaay overpriced).

FYI, it'd take about 15-20min walk from the Disk Union Stores at the East Side of Shinjuku.

------------------------------------------

Mejiro

Third stop (5 min) from Shinjuku via Yamanote-line.

* World Disque

102 Maison Mejiro,
3-1-17, Shimo-Ochiai,
Shinjuku-Ku,

1 min walk from Mejiro Station

tel: 3954-5348
fax: 3954-9563
e-mail : mar@marquee.co.jp
or
you can simply ask me :-)

web : www.marquee.co.jp/world_disque/d.w.frameset.html

Open 13:00 - 20:00 (Sun 13:00 - 19:00)

or simply visit www.marquee.co.jp and click the world disque link at the bottom left.

Best prog store in Japan ! (Yes, I am biased).
More on the new CD copies of all things related with Prog (Symph, Kraut, RIO, Fusion, Jazz, Avant, Folk...).
+ good number of used Vinyls / CDs.

Nakajima, who are at the store is very knowledgble and into the obscure Japanese releases that are rarely talked outside of Japan, and very easy to talk with. Give him a request on what kind of thing you are looking for, so he can give you tons of examples to listen to.

---------------------------------------

Nobuhisa

[Calabasas_Trafalgar]

Nobuhisa, are there still good stores in Shimokitazawa?

[ducati chorus]

.. as Nobuhisa said.

His Mejiro shop is a bit out of the way (Shinjuku on the other hand is a hub's hub) but about 50 metres away from World Disque is Tanaka-ya, the best beer shop in Japan, so if you want to buy some Japanese craft beers as well as prog cds it makes the trip to Mejiro worthwhile.

[nnknsh]

Nobuhisa, are there still good stores in Shimokitazawa?
There are still few used stores (some goodies can be found at the DU branch there) in the area, but these are more or less generic used CD/LP shops.
There used to be several good specialist stores on rare vinyl (notably F'lmore Records and Vinyl Story) but sadly they are all gone now.

[BakerStMuse]

I made this run a few months ago.. along with the above mentioned I also had success at the Disk Union in Ikebukuro. In Shinjuku there is the Disk Union prog store and another 7 story store that had a ton of stuff.

Eurasia had great selection but I just did not understand the pricing, especially with so much available elsewhere.

[Pr33t]

I will be going to Tokyo next month and was wondering if there was any changes since Nobuhisa made this list a few years ago, or if anyone has any additional suggestions. I'm looking for shops with vinyl only (will browse CDs if they're there, but my primary interest is records).

Thanks!

[samsondale]

I believe that the Disk Union prog store is now in the main building rather than a separate location.

[TheH]

I believe that the Disk Union prog store is now in the main building rather than a separate location.

Yes they are on the 3rd floor of the main house now.

[Soleilzeuhl]

[]

Do you the large store named (approximately) RECO still exist ? I remember , some 10 years ago, their large 2nd-hand vinyl section + their big choice of CDs...

A.

[nnknsh]

I suppose Alain meant about Recofan at Shibuya.
http://www.recofan.co.jp/map/beam.html
Very large 2nd-hand / new,. vinyl/CD store. More on the general side of things (ie:no deep obscurity) but there can be some surprises if you are lucky enough / can bother with digging so many raws of CDs / LPs.

The Disk Union Shibuya store is pretty close. Have decent amount of Prog at their Rock floor. Also the Jazz / world music / rare groove section at the basement can have some goodies as well.
Speaking of other branches of Disk Union, the used center close to the Ochianomizu-station and the Jazz store nearby are both pretty large and worth a visit too.

If you are into Brazilian music, Home error music at Koenji (about 6-8min by Chuo-line from Shinjuku) is a small but very good store that specializes in that vein.
Dose have a section for Gismonti and Pascoal and they have more odd / experimental sort of things like Arrigo Barnabe or Leticia Garcia than your usual Brazilian music specialists.
http://www.homeerror.com/index2.html

[Pr33t]

Thanks everyone, and especually Nobuhisa for the bulk of the list :)