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Hi.
I'm going to visit Japan next week but not Tokyo.
Do you have recommendations for second-hand vinyl and CDs shops that will stock rock/pop (I'm after David Bowie in particular)?
I'll visit Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima.
Havent been to Osaka since '16 but I a few random shops scattered around Namba and a good Disk Union in Umeda, near the big train station.
Some very good specialty stores can be found in the Amerikamura vicinity (King Kong, Time Bomb...) north of the river.
Can't really tell about Kyoto since my last visit was over 10 years ago.
Thanks all.
I confirm that Groovin records in Hiroshima is really good.
In Osaka, KingKong was good but they had only non-Japanese records.
Forever...I was caught by the closed on Weds thing. There are 3 shops, incl Forever and they were all shut when I visited. I'm not sure it's every Weds or just the 3rd of each month but it was a real bummer for me.
Kyoto's shops had a better choice of old LPs with obis but some were randomly closed as well.
I did bring a good haul but it could have been better. I was in Japan for a family trip so did not have that much time to shop. I'd definitely recommend checking opening times carefully & not relying on those in GoogleMaps.
Groovin' (https://groovin-jp.co.jp/) in Hiroshima is very well stuffed and sorted. Made some cool finds.
Joe's Garage in Kyoto was a flop for my music taste. But I visited also Art Rock No. 1 (https://artrock-1.com/) - they were very well organized and I found some records.
King Kong has declined drastically compared to a few years ago (when they moved to the new location in the department store). Still worthy to check but no comparison to its earlier state. Time Bomb is only worth it when you're looking for Rockabilly stuff, besides that I found it overpriced. I'm mainly in the market for Metal/Hardcore/Punk stuff and for that Time Bomb has little to offer.
Update from my last visit this month:
King Kong seems to shut down. Store size has decreased by half easily compared to last year and they offered 20% off everything but didn't have anything worthwhile.
For Punk / Hardcore check out Punk & Destroy and Revenge Records, both in Shinsaibashi. Revenge is owned by Jacky of Framtid, Gloom, Warhead etc.
Also if you have the time, go to Himeji and check out Trude Records. Kinda weird opening times but open until 1am (!!!). Found a lot of really nice Punk, Hardcore and Metal stuff there. They also stock Rock records. Best selection out of all of the stores in greater Osaka / Kyoto / Kobe area for me, so possibly nothing left for you anymore :D
Seriously, anyone into Punk / Hardcore / Metal needs to check this store out.
Located on the fourth floor of a steak restaurant (without elevator), about 15 minutes to walk from the train station.
Disk Union in Osaka was very disappointing this time but this can essentially change every other week and I happened to be there in a slow week.
