Entertainment For Lively Minds
Tokyo Update
With utterly crucial help from the Massive on another thread I recently went on a cd buying spree in Tokyo and thought I'd report back on how I went.
If you still collect cds then you should go there if you can, the stores are so amazing I think you are actually doing yourself a dis-service by not visiting.
The problem for a first timer is the stores are near impossible to find. There are some shopfronts but they're mostly hidden away on the 4th or 5th floor of an office building with no indication (if you can't read Japanese)as to what lies upstairs. Sometimes the challenge isn't finding the building but convincing yourself there is a record shop inside.
You walk around these bizarre, cramped streets with only a map three inches by two inches as a guide to find yourself in front of a Citibank branch or a hotel. You take a deep breathe, go inside, find the elevator and hope.
Once inside though, you'll find racks and racks of cds, bootlegs sitting right next to legit releases. The stores are so comprehensive that a friend gave me a list of nine titles, all as good as unobtainable to him and I was able to purchase eight of them.
The racks are all arranged alphabetically. They are sorted according to first name so Frank Zappa is towards the front but poor old Yngwie Malmsteen is way up the back. So if you do go you need to make yourself a wish list and sort it according to "Bob" not "Dylan".
The city itself is amazing, it was love at first sight for me. Catching the trains is a breeze, all I did was purchase the cheapest ticket (130 yen) and top it up at the adjustment machine at the other end.
I will put in the comments maps and things I have discovered on the net as well as some photos I took myself. This is a view of Shinjuku at dusk taken from the overpass there.
- More from Cookieboy.
- Login or register to post comments
-
Stores
The best two stores I found were Recofan and especially Disc Union, here are the links.
Even the Tower records are worth visiting but they are expensive and I'd try the second hand stores first.
http://www.recofan.co.jp/map/map_eng.html
http://diskunion.net/st/shop/e_index.html
Back trip Records
He's right, they are a bugger to find, but there is one street in Shinjuki district that has half a dozen different shops selling rare CDs and bootleg video. I've been going there for years and have amassed quite a collection (from soundboard recording of a Floyd concert I went to in 74 to a good quality video of Zeppelin at the O2). If you can think of it, delve deep enough and you can usually find it.
Back Trip Records is one of the most established shops. On the same street AIRS Music Video is also good. Be sure to demo the videos to check quality.
The address is 7-10-19, Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo (the main station to go to is Shinjuku)
Back Trip's bags say: "We always give smile to customer. Also our staff is always cool. So you guys enjoy to hunting stuff in strange world. ROCK ON!"
Is this the place Nick?
http://www.video-market.net/
http://www.airs-online.com/
If it is, it does look rather interesting.
I missed this area completely when I first visited. Indeed, I spent most of the time getting lost and passing that "Green Peas" place from just about every direction possible. But as luck would have it work takes me back there next month, and I'm softening up the credit cards as I write ....
Yes, that's it
the ground floor is the concert DVD store. As I say, make use of the test facilities (DVD player, TV, headphones) especially for some of the older shows.
This store gets quite a few famous customers, as you will see. At the time that I bought the Led Zep O2 DVD, JP had been in the previous week for his own copy! How do I know? The owner was handing photos to anyone who bought the DVD.
Shinjuku
Ikebukuro
This map is actually wrong! The recofan store is actually near where it says Bic Camera, the Disk Union is virtually next door
Ochanomizo
A fantastic area with guitar shops and other audio related shops everywhere.
Ooh gosh.. I don't know about you..
But I'm getting an attack of The Vapors..
Tsk,
You'll go blind.
*Squints*
Who said that?
My favourite photo
A beer seller at a baseball game.
800 yen a glass
Note the jetpack on her back and also the sign in the background.
No need for the word "Caution"
Is number 92 the best named ballplayer ever? I think so
Although "Fukumoto" runs him close
Imperial Palace
Harajuku Station
The best of Japan in one easy stop.
Just to the East, note the name of the street "Takeshita"
Just to the West
As I set a new record for most responses to my own blog
Here are some evil looking kids, I have no idea what they were selling.
Smileage
The picture is an advert for a Japanese group called Smileage. Never heard them but can guess it is what is described as J-pop.
*sigh*
Keep 'em coming Cookieboy. Can't get enough of Nihon.
If you still want a Japanese fix back in Blighty then I suggest, if you have Freesat (came free with my TV), look for channel NHK. This is the English version and contains lifestyle, music, news, cookery and destination programmes about the land of the rising sun.
Isn't it the best?
I've been in quite a few of the world's great cities and Tokyo is one of my absolute favourites. I loved watching TV even though I never knew what they were talking about, I guess I like watching happy girls who clap their hands a lot.
This is Shinjuku again, Blade Runner territory, this time at night.
Tokyo
Recommend any decent hotels in centre of Tokyo ?
I stayed here
http://www.tokyodome-hotels.co.jp/e/
Good points
It's a big enough hotel to be served directly by the Airport bus (3000 yen one way)
It is very close to two train stations, one JR (above ground) and one metro (below ground) That is an important distinction, they are different systems with different tickets. You can get anywhere quite easily from there
It's in Suidobashi which is one stop from Ochanomizu (map above) and one stop further along is Akihabara, the Manga capital of the world
Shinjuku is also on a direct line.
The staff spoke enough English for me to get whatever I wanted
The Tokyo Dome is at most 100 metres away and there is some Amusement park outside the backdoor
Bad points
When they say "Check in 2.00PM" they mean it, no exceptions. After arriving early and seeing no action on the check in front for anyone (they told me to go sit down) two o'clock came around and the queue to register was suddenly enormous as it's a 1000 room hotel. Once I checked in though everything else about the place is a breeze. Just arrive after 2.00 and you'll be fine. When I go back it'll be the same hotel
The cheeky bastards charge for use of the pool, 1000 Yen a time!
Mitsui Garden Hotel, Ginza
I stay here - modern, central city, good bars and shops nearby:
http://www.gardenhotels.co.jp/eng/ginzapremier/
hold on...
inadvertent posting rampage...
wait for it...
.
Best City.
Ever. Lived there for two years and not a day goes by I don't miss it.
Most of the places you mention are on the north end of the Yamanote line. If you get down to the bottom of the route there's some good "arty" shops and areas including some good indie record stores in the likes of Daikanyama or Ebisu that are well worth a visit if you go back. And Shimokitazawa is as close as Tokyo gets to a bohemian area. Well worth checking out, only a short train ride from Shibuya station.
Did you get out of the city much?
I didn't get out of the city at all
I noticed when I looked at a properly scaled map that I'd only covered a small segment of the city, in that all the places I went to were clustered together. Which means I did go to Shibuya and Ebisu as they're in the same general area as Harajuku and Shinjuku but none of the others you mentioned.
It was 38c and very humid, I knew it would be hot, but didn't expect it to be so much hotter than Singapore which I visited on the way. Stupid me thought they'd be a hop skip and jump from each other. It was a frigging seven hour red-eye flight which I didn't know until after I had booked. So I was very tired when I arrived.
I spent most of my time hopelessly lost in the places I did go to so my energy levels weren't high enough to go anywhere else. I saw enough to love the place and will go back in the not too distant future. All I need is more cash and a new list of cds to chase down.
What?
You..you..did not visit Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Seas? It's the finest Disney Park in the world. I did it the other way around when I went - 2 weeks in Disneyland with the odd record buying trip to the centre of Tokyo and part way up Mount Fuji.
With time and money I would visit other cities on the Shinkansen.
Great photos Cookieboy!
The Record Stores in Tokyo are great, many's a time I've been in a store there and nearly did the old phone the friends back home to say "you'll never guess what I've found" trick, only to remember they would not be best pleased due to the time difference!
They love their music there too - I first went in the mid 80's and the "Indie" nightclubs were really cool, full of real music fans.
I ended up at a Japanese Stranglers Fan Club convention once as a friend was running it, there was some anticipation at the time as they knew that a "foreign musician" was attending - nothing inscrutable about these Japanese - it was clear on their faces that the musician was not Hugh Cornwell or JJ Burnell but just me! Mind you if I went nowadays I might well be able to pass myself off as Jet Black...
They do lack some really great bands though - I did see a decent upcoming band in Shibuya last year, the place was packed and there was a real buzz - their name? "Ogre You Asshole"...don't expect to see them bothering the charts here soon!
Would agree with Maggie above, Shimokitazawa is a great hang-out if anyone is ever in Tokyo - cool shops and boutiques with a really relaxed (unusal in Tokyo) atmosphere.
If you've got any more pics, would like to see them.
This is what you have to look for to find the record stores
For example if you were looking for "Fast Nail" catch the lift to the 6th floor
Kabukicho
The naughty area of Tokyo I never went inside any of these establishments, too much respect for my wallet.
Gangster types
A Russian Church!
Inside the Meiji Shrine at Harajuku
In my mind this bloke is off to avenge something
Girls in Kimonos
They are a fairly common sight but these were the only ones I had the nerve to take a photo of
Shinjuku at night
Outside the Imperial Palace
and inside the grounds
Baseball Hall of Fame
From what I could gather this bloke sharpened his baseball swing by clouting lumps of beef (Rocky style) with a Samurai Sword
Happy girls clapping
Was there a vending machine nearby for their underwear?
Or am I stereotyping again?
Fascinating.
Japan has exerted a pull on me for a long time. The photos posted have whetted my imagination even further. I must go.
Just stay away
from the vending machines...!
Unless
You want beer, eggs, flowers, Pringles, etc.....
www.toxel.com/tech/2009/06/08/14-cool-vending-machines-from-japan/
or Pocari Sweat
Nothing better after a hard day's sightseeing
Tastes as good as it sounds
You're not the only one
If I can ever rustle up enough cash, I'll be spending some time there. Tokyo looks mad but brilliant, but I'd love to see more of the place.
Thanks for some great pics and stuff Cookieboy, all pretty cool stuff.
I just made a video!
Following Dave Amitri's effort with the People who make the world a better place I decided to see if I could do it and I can! It's a piece of piss!
I made no attempt to make the images fit the music so this is as amateurish as I expected it would be, it makes no sense at all!
The song was the first I thought of, This is Japan by Jack Green
Apologies for posting this again
but it is lovely in HD and fullscreen. Makes me love Japan more whenever I hear it.
'Rin - Sakura Sakura
Brilliant photos
Cookieboy. Was there last year with my wife and daughter. My daughter is now eleven and is adamant she wants to live there when she is older. If you get chance to go back again definitely check out Kyoto and Hiroshima. My personal highlight was Hiroshima which was extremely moving but also a wonderful city. The Japanese people are a delight and my only regret is that the only record shops I could visit were Tower and HMV - if I get back there Recofan is a must!!
This might prove useful if you are planning a visit
A website listing a huge number of cd and dvd shops in the Shinjuku area
http://www.shinjuku.info/S49016.html
This should open at the page for Airs Music Video, as mentioned by Nick above.
With a bit or trial and error it's possible to paste the address details into Google Maps. If you run this link through Google Translate you can see which line is the address - paste the Japanese verison into Google Maps. It works on some, not on others.
Will be out there again next month - had better take an extra bag again!
Are you going along
to the London get together on Friday?
Sadly not
I'm away for the weekend. I'm cursed as far as the London dates seem to go - if Nov 5th is the next one, that's looking tricky too.
I'm pinning my hopes on the Oxford meeting that's been discussed on Oct 29th.
If there's anything you want me to look out for while I'm in Japan I'd be happy to - just pm me the details.
Shame...
thanks for the offer though, however I'll be in Japan in October too (unfortunately on grim family duties) but I'll still have some time for trawling the record shops.
Maybe catch up in Oxford then to compare purchases!?
Toyko Massive meet up?
If you're there on the 23rd and family duties permit let me know.
Otherwise hopefully we'll catch up in Oxford.
Shame...again...
will be there from October 01st coming back maybe around 14th/15th.
Would have been quite novel, a Tokyo Massive meet up, I'm going to need a lot of alcohol, plus I've got a few muso mates over there who could have made up the numbers, haven't persuaded them to subscribe yet though!
one more thing
try not to laugh when you see the section for 'Eric Crapton' (you think I'm joking?)
Crapton
Takes me back to when I was working on a tour and we had to send a Japanese meet/greet assistant to the airport to meet a delegation from Japan who were going to attend a Clapton gig. The Assistant had all his documents including his large sign that he was meant to hold up at the arrivals gate - it did indeed read Eric Crapton in large letters - childish I know, but it still amuses me to this day!
Reminds me of another story, the very same Japanese Assistant once almost quit over a tour we were arranging for the rock band Yellow Monkey from Japan. He was, understandably, quite adamant he didn`t want to stand around at Heathrow holding a sign in front of him proclaiming Yellow Monkey!
A word of warning
I just asked my Japanese neighbour about the best time to visit the country. He said "any time apart from now. The yen is so strong that it's ludicrously expensive if you're starting off with sterling".
July 2007: 250 yen per pound
Sept 2010: 131 yen per pound
Literally, ouch.
Best time to visit ...
... is probably spring or autumn. Summer is too hot and humid (it has been mid-30s for weeks in Tokyo). As your neighbour says though, the exchange rate makes it really expensive at the moment.
Actually not too bad
I was there last year and the Yen was about 138-140 and yes prices were slightly higher than here but I can tell you not as expensive as Norway or Iceland. When the euro was about 1.05 the last time I was in Berlin my son paid £4 for a small bottle of coke Friedrichstrasse and that wasn't at a sit down cafe!! The expensive reputation that Tokyo has should certainly not be a deterrent for visiting because you can still eat cheaply and if you have a JR pass you can get around very cheaply indeed.
True, but
It's not really about local prices, but the exchange rate. If I went today, I'd be getting half the number of yen I did when I went a few years back. You still might pay £5 for some noodles, but your overall budget would be much smaller.
Great pics Cookieboy!
Brings back happy memories from our time there in '07. An amazing city, I don't think I've ever been so depressed to leave a place.
Here are a couple of short clips of a holiday DVD I made of our trip. Would really love to go back and make another now I have better equipment and skills.
Excellent
I was hoping someone else would post some pics or even better a clip. Love the music in the second one!
One thing I noticed while reading through the thread is that no-one, not one person was anything but glowing about the city itself. There wasn't even a "it's okay" comment.
Also I got a report back from the person I went cd shopping for, his one word description of the quality of the discs I got him (mostly mid 70's Deep Purple gigs) was "stunning."
Enjoying all the photos...
here's some of my Tokyo shots:
Good, that works...
A few more...
Unfortunately, "Rudeness" has now closed down...
more photos...
Azabujuban
Himiko boat on the Sumida
Asahi building in Asakusa
more more more
Yabusame (mounted archery competition)
in Arisugawa koen
CROW WARNING
photo gluttony
Nezu
? - promotional truck in Shibuya
Takaosanguchi
somebody stop me
Christmas lights in Roppongi Hills
Prada building in Aoyama
Audi building, between Aoyama and Shibuya
last batch, I promise
at the Azabujuban festival
er, can't remember the official name of this one. We used to live around the corner and called it the Goblet Building, for obvious reasons
Mt Fuji at sunset
oh go on
have a couple of pictures of inappropiate childrens clothes
this was a mannequin in Akachan Honpo - Japan's answer to Mothercare
and this was a promotional board in HMV Shibuya (RIP)
Tokyo Massive
I`m here...monk`s chanting, incense and much ceremonial sake still swilling around in my head and all I can think of is record shopping!
I will meet up with some muso mates later in the week and hopefully initiate them into the wonders of The Word, share a few Kirin beers and declare it an official Tokyo Massive Meet-Up!
How's the humidity?
I need to know how many shirts to pack for the week after next.
The humidity has not been too bad
generally so far, weather`s been a bit of a mixed bag. Yesterday it absolutely poured all day so was extremely humid, not a good day to be in Shibuya trying to cross the road via the famous Hachiko crossing, I was almost decapitated by hundreds of umbrellas!