Tokyo Stand Up!!! Pleez post cool spots!!!
ScopeCGN
163 Posts
Yaul,Disco Diamant is hitting Tokyo tomorrow 
thanks to Carhartt we be interviewing cool dudes, trade some goods and hopefully spin somewhere... watch www.rugged.tv to get full picture soon.We bring some german goods with us, so if you live in the area of Tokyo,stand up for your block and contact us via pm in threat.Feel free to post your best sushi spots in tokyo as well - all help of the struttin society is well appreciated!!!Thanks in advance,ScopePS: Thanks for all barcelona / Spain hints, photos of our tour are available at http://www.discodiamant.de/hotshots ---> barcelona. go check it out and mail us for any info on barcelona diggin...
---> 80. Stockwerk alert!!!! 
thanks to Carhartt we be interviewing cool dudes, trade some goods and hopefully spin somewhere... watch www.rugged.tv to get full picture soon.We bring some german goods with us, so if you live in the area of Tokyo,stand up for your block and contact us via pm in threat.Feel free to post your best sushi spots in tokyo as well - all help of the struttin society is well appreciated!!!Thanks in advance,ScopePS: Thanks for all barcelona / Spain hints, photos of our tour are available at http://www.discodiamant.de/hotshots ---> barcelona. go check it out and mail us for any info on barcelona diggin...---> 80. Stockwerk alert!!!!
Comments
What you think, as I pack my luggage right this second, should I bring my portable?
Best & Thanks,
Scoper
one suggestion though, bring a nice vinyl flightcase if you have one. in the two days i was there, i bought so much wax that I had to buy a padded flight case to take my records on board the plane as i flew onwards onto LA.
and food wise, just wild out and go wherever, even the bento boxes at the 7-11s are good! whole load of sushi and they usually give you some kind of katsu as well. i would have liked to seen more of the country side but since i was only there for two days en route to the US, it was strictly a digging mission.
cheers
max
I think I will bring my GP-3B (Columbia) back to the land of its origin...
Thanks for all the info good to hear that Shibuya is the place, as we booked a room in a guesthouse there!
Thanks for your help - much appreciated!
Best,
Scoper
Thes: I didn't cop much heat from Disk Union. Just all these other ill stores that I can't remember, just places I walked into and my jaw just dropped!
As soon as an airline starts flying from Perth to Japan cheap, I'll be on them planes....
Cologne got some decent spots, if you have the time to go around frequently youll be able to find chep heaters. If you be around for sight seeing, you will maybe only find the usual spots and be like: Hmmm - Not special...
You can get euro heat at bargain price levels and US-heat for big numbers here in cologne. I can recommend some cool shops and thrifts here, if you stop by on your next world trip :-)
And Yeah! FFM is known for electronica and tech of all kinds - Leipzig record shows are known for cheap east euro heat!!! I dug up piles of records there. But the Sugarhill owner seems to be a little strange to me, prices were skyrocketing to unreal hights for just common records. Tz Tz Tz...
Gotta hit the plane now, thanks for your help!
Cheerz!
SC
Top 3 record areas that have tonnes of stores:
- Nishi (West)-Shinjuku
- Shibuya
- Ochanomizu/Jimbocho
I agree that Disc Union is the bomb. I hit up the soul/blues Disc Unions regularly. Actually, you'll want to get off either the south or east exist of Shinjuku to find the Disc Union's there. All the stores (soul, jazz, rock etc) are around the same area. Once you find one, you should be able to get a map to the rest of them. But definately dont sleep on west shinjuku. The place is loaded.
On the chuo/sobu line from Shinjuku you should get off at Nakano, Koenji and Kichijoji. All three stops have about 5 - 10 record stores each to check out.
You really need to buy the record map book when you find one of these stores (it's about 1500yen). It's all in Japanese but once you ask someone to help you get your bearings you should be ok.
And if you go any further out into the sticks, then hard off can be a go sometimes (but you probably want a car for this).
Food wise, I just recently discovered an awesome yakitori joint in Shibuya. It's a two story place that'll be constantly full of salary men getting wasted after work. It's crowded and not exactly the cleanest place in the world. But the yakitori is outstanding and the beer is ice cold. Plenty of sake to be had too if that's you're thing. It's here http://gmap.jp/shop-1147.html. The link is actually a map to the Hobgoblin (an Irish pub) but this yakitori place is just under the "R" of "The Renga".
and theres a Mos Burger around the "D" in Dogenzaka!
Thanks so much doctafonk, very useful info!!!! Much appreciated! Will U B around in Tokyo the next days?! Maybe we can hook up for a decent pint in the HoboScratchGoblin?! Sake Bukake madness there!!! :-)
Hit me up on skype: scope808
Would be great. Thanks and all the best,
SC
Also, if you plan on using the record map to find your stores, forget it. Don't even waste your time hittin' up Shibuya, Shinjuku or the Chuo line. If you really gunna dig, gotta get out at least 1 hour from the city for the real records. Like the cheap joints. If you wanna pay eBay prices, scout around.
Selling records, forget about it. You might be like $20 for those Knef records out there (IF YOU ARE LUCKY!). It's all about the trades, but you gotta have the hookups out there.
Things have change DRAMATICALLY in Japan. I was gunna write more about it when I get back to Australia, I just got back from there 2 days ago (in Taiwan still) with 9 days of bliss. I will post a full report ASAP. Lots of gaijin out there doin' the eBay thing these days and Muro and co have DEFINITLEY got all spots on lock right now (by the way, I picked up his 2 new mix CDs - a stevie wonder cover mix and a mix of all joints sped up to 45, DOPE DOPE!). Pt. 2 of Muro's Japanese mix will be released shortly, it will be CERTIFIED DOPE! I know a couple of joints on that already, AMAZING!
doctafunk, hit me on the MSN.
peace.
DAMN I WANNA GO TO JAPAN AND HIT UP THOSE OTHER CITIES.
by the way, what's that "Knef" record you got in that photo right there?
bevan: for real?!? wow, things must have changed. the places i went i pointed to my portable and they were all cool with it... but admittedly yes, this was in 2004 and if you say things have changed, then word is bond!
cheers
max
seriously, you will be walking past buildings that house like 20 stores inside that look like typical office buildings on the outside, inside every floor will be all kinds of different stuff, but there are vinyl stores hidden EVERYWHERE over there.
some cater to just certain kinds of music though.
cosign on even eating the stuff from 7-11. the japanese do not fuck around on quality, even at 7-11 and mcdonalds.
If you have a couple of days only, Shibuya is the place to go. But if you want to "dig" records check out other stores and areas.
As others have mentioned, the Disk Union stores are a good start. Get their map in one of the stores and try to hit up as many as possible, i.e. in Kichijoji, Machida, Shimo Kitazawa aso. You will usually find a couple of other record stores scattered in the same area. I f you manage to have a Japanese tour guide, you can start to search for the real shit in the suburbs.
i hope i can do it this year
its north of the Imperial Palace in Jimbocho...
take JR suido-bashi (subway) to Jimbocho,
leave the station from exit A5, turn right,
its 1 minute from the exit, righthand side of the street,
Shimada Building 4th floor, right near SUBWAY sandwiches!
lots of raers..e.g. sons & daughters, jpn raers, afreaka...
only place i visited twice when i went there last obon...
also disc union are nice! if in kansai, hit me with a PM...
OHHHHH YEAH! That's my hommies store...
I'm about to post up pics of his wall today, but i deleted all but the thumbnails of my pics from this last trip... PISSED OFF.
yeah, he def had some nice stuff on the wall, although most was a
little pricey for me, but he would play just about anything i
wanted to listen to, that place and the shibuya disc union were
pretty much the standouts of my trip, and its walking distance
from the palace and tokyo station...
I really liked RECOFAN stores.. mainly because they were the only ones I could find because they had a map on their web page
http://www.recofan.co.jp/map/map_eng.html
I think the best/biggest was Shibuya but you have to check out the SHIMOKITAZAWA district in general.. too rad.. it's like the college/hipster district.. too much cool stuff there to see and do.. and eat. Try a PEPPER LUNCH or some PORK RAMEN SOUP. All the sushi is good.. and cheap! Go to a conveyor belt place and tell them to scorch some fatty tuna with their little blow torch.. I can't remember how to say it, but maybe you can improvise or pantomime it.
Def get a good city map and a subway map. If you could get a guide to help you find the stores that would be a plus. Some stores are on the top floor of 7 story buildings.. but you won't know that because outside the transit system it's almost entirely all Japanese on all signs. And if people told you that most Japanese speak English as a second language.. think again - they don't!
YES bring something to carry records back. I had to put all my clothes in a box and had my company mail them back and put the records in my suitcase to take back.
Make sure you have good luggage that ROLLS.. the airport and tokyo in general is brutal if you are lugging around records without wheels.
Headphones on the subways is a must!!