Record Store Visit: Disk Union Shimokitazawa - Tokyo, Japan - 12/29/16

As the light started to fade, we hit up the last Disk Union we were to visit on out trip to Tokyo.  This one was located in Shimokitazawa.  It was an interesting neighborhood, though we were told that a lot of the construction going on for the upcoming Tokyo olympics was threatening to change the area a bit.  Still, it was a really cool part of town to walk around in for a while.

This Disk Union was another that had a broad range of musical genres represented.  It was only one

story, but it had a larger footprint than some of the other stores we had went to.  As with most stores in Tokyo, a substantial portion of the store was dedicated to CDs, but there was some solid vinyl representation as well.  They had lots of 7"s (Including stocking of a pretty killer record by this band called Custody), once again broken up by genre for easy digging.

They also had an interesting selection of LPs.  In particular, I was drawn to a section that was 90's rock and alternative.  It was interesting parsing through old Beck 12"s and seeing records by bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden.  Not because I had any interest in buying them, but it was just kind of funny to see those sort of records displayed so prominently.

I don't really remember what specific records I bought here, but I did buy a few.  I bought at least one record in every single record shop we went to (Except from the heavy metal store we went in by mistake).  Our Tokyo record store quest was starting to wrap up, but we had one more store to hit and I'll write about that one next week.

Record Store Visit: Disk Union Shibuya - Tokyo, Japan - 12/29/16

Another day, another Disk Union.  Let me tell you how utterly incredible this Japanese record store chain is.  We went to so many of them while in Japan and they each had a feeling all their own.  I would be spending my life in these stores if I lived in Japan.  Maybe it's best I don't live there. I'd end up poor, but I would have a hell of a record collection.

The Shibuya location isn't quite as big and awe inspiring as its Shinjuku neighbor, but it is still a pretty gigantic shop.  Many floors and each floor broken up into genre specific shopping.  Although here, two floors are dedicated to used records. I wish we had the time to have spent some of it digging through there a bit, but on this day our objective was the fifth floor, specializing in heavy metal and (you guessed it) punk rock.

This was a great store and I'm guessing the two floors of used records seeped into the punk shop as well.  There were no shortage of used records up there, especially in terms of 7"s.  Also, like the Shinjuku shop, the sub genres of punk rock were split up in super specific sub genres, making it easier to dive into whole chunks of the store at one time.  It's probably no surprised I was digging in the 'Melodic Pop Punk' section for quite some time.

I don't remember the specific records I picked up here, but I do remember that I probably bought more CDs at this store than some of the others.  I also remember seeing some crazy 7"s for super cheap, ones that I already had but were way more difficult for me to find ten years ago.  Simply put, it was another incredible record store in Tokyo.  In case you haven't figured it out, Tokyo has a lot of them.

Record Store Visit: Disk Union Shinjuku - Tokyo, Japan - 12/29/16

On the second full day we were in Tokyo, December 29th, Kazu from Waterslide records took my wife and I around for a whirlwind tour of record stores.  This is the day things really picked up as far as buying records went.  Our first stop of the day was the Disk Union in Shinjuku.  This is the best record store I have ever gone to in my entire life.

The store is seven stories and each story focuses on specific genres of music. World music? Head up to the fourth floor.  Looking for some J-Pop? It's down to the basement for you.  But for me, it was up to the seventh floor as that was dedicated to punk rock.  I really could not believe what I was walking into.  This store was just crammed full of records and CDs, all by bands that I love.  The genres were broken down in such specificity that became a little comical to see the sub-sub-sub genres of Psychobilly that had its own section.  But any store that had a special place to browse melodic pop punk is a store that I want to go to just about every day.

The other thing that I loved about the Shinjuku Disk Union was the sheer amount of 7"s they had.  It seemed like they were everywhere.  A section for new 7"s, a section for used 7"s, random 7"s stacked up on shelves that you didn't even notice the first time you walked by.  It was just crazy.  This is also the only store I have ever been in that has its own dedication portion of the used section dedicated to Snuffy Smile 7"s.  That was madness.  Flipping through that part of the used bin, I couldn't believe the 7"s that were just sitting around that had previously taken me decades to find.  Just as incredible as the records I did buy was the amount of records I already had that I couldn't believe I was seeing just sitting in a store.

I bought a ton of records at this Disk Union.  I can't even remember all of the ones that came from this store, but I got a lot of pretty great punk rock and I was completely shocked at how inexpensive it ended up being.  I spent less than a hundred bucks here, but walked out with a stack of 7"s over two inches thick and at least a dozen CDs and a couple of LPs.  More than anyplace I've ever been, excluding Flipside Records in Pompton Lakes NJ during the 90's, this store just felt like home.  I keep telling people that the thing I like most about Japan is the way they seem to really encourage people to find that thing they're passionate about and immerse themselves in it.  It felt like this Disk Union was built specifically with me in mind.  I just loved it there.

The crazy part is that we had such a busy day of record shopping planned, that I never even went into any of the other floors.  Sure, I can't imagine there was a hidden gem waiting for my on the progressive rock floor, but I bet there may have been some other interesting things lying around.  Just another reason to go back someday.

Record Store Visit: Disk Union Ochanomizu - Tokyo, Japan - 12/28/16

The hotel we stayed at in Japan was in a section of Tokyo called Ochanomizu.  It was in between the Akihabara train stations and the Ochanomizu station.  We used both, but the Ochanomizu station was the one that we used a bit more often.  This particular Disk Union was right across the street from the Ochanomizu station and was only 4 blocks or so from our hotel.  Though I only got to go in once, it was always cool that I was walking by my 'local' record shop every time I went somewhere.

Like the Disk Union in Nakano, the Ochanomizu station was something of a one stop shop kind of place.  Most genres were represented at least a little bit.  There were more CDs than vinyl, but the vinyl section was still pretty big, especially the 7" section which was well stocked with cool used records.  The day we went was our first full day in Japan so I think, like in Nakano, that I probably should have tried a bit harder to get back to this shop during the trip for a lengthier dig.  I have a feeling there were probably some undiscovered gems floating around, but we were tired and we hit this store towards the end of the day.

I only picked up one record here, an old four way split 7" that had a Husking Bee song on it.  A cool record for sure, but I think there probably was more here to find if I had a bit more time.

Bonus Store: A couple of blocks away, still in Ochanomizu is a 2 story Disk Union store that specializes in heavy metal.  I didn't totally realize that until we had gone inside and since I don't really listen to any heavy metal, we didn't stay long and I didn't buy anything, but I still think it is neat that a store like this exists and was full of people looking for some loud screeching riffs.

Record Store Visit: Disc Union Nakano - Tokyo, Japan - 12/28/16

Sorry for such a long delay since the last time I posted anything.  As I had mentioned, I went to Tokyo over New Years and then when I got home, I ended up pretty sick for about 2 weeks.  I'm still kind of pulling out of it, but I'l at least well enough to start up a little writing about my trip.  So, if I were to exclusively write about the record stores and records I bought while in Tokyo, I would probably fill up the next 4-6 months of this website with that.  To keep things a little more varied, I'm going to mix these purchases in with some of the more current albums that I'm buying this year. 

I went to a fair amount of record stores while in Tokyo.  Especially thanks to the wonderful Kazu from Waterslide records who brought me around to the very best ones for the type of records I was shopping for.  Over the weeks I'll be writing a little bit about each store, though as a warning quite a few of them were Disc Unions.  Still even most of the Disc Unions had their own personality.  It really was an amazing trip and even though I've heard my entire life how great record stores are in Japan, even I couldn't believe how incredible they were once I was actually there.

First up is the first record store I visited in Tokyo, the Disc Union in Nakano.  This was the first full day we were in Tokyo and I will admit that I was a little tired when we were walking around.  We tried to cram in a lot this day and we ended up at this shop after some time walking around Akihabara and then the Nakano Broadway building.  I think if I had gone to this shop a little later in the week, I probably would have done some deeper digging, but even in the limited time I was here, I checked out a good amount of stuff.

Unlike some of the more specialized Disc Unions, the one in Nakano was a store that had a pretty

broad focus and carried records from most genres.  Like most of the stores we went to, there was definitely more of a focus on CDs than vinyl, but their vinyl section was still quite big, very impressive and organized to perfection.  One of my favorite things about record stores in Japan is how specifically they divide the sub genres of each section.  Being able to head right to the used Japanese punk section sure made things convenient throughout the trip.

This store was a pretty good size, taking up the second floor of a decently large building.  We were there at about 3 in the afternoon on a Wednesday and the store was just full of people.  It was very rare that any record store we went to wasn't pretty packed with folks buying records.  Warms my heart.

Anyway, this was a really good store, though not at the top of my list at the end of the day.  I only ended up buying a Practice/What-A-Night's split 7", but again, had we gone back on a different day where we were a little more rested, I think I would have had the energy to dig a little longer at this store.  I'm sure I would have unearthed some sort of hidden treasures.