A Guide To Buying City Pop In Tokyo
A while ago I wrote a comprehensive guide to record stores in the greater Tokyo area. Ever since then, I’ll occasionally get an email from someone about to visit Tokyo, and they want to know the best stores to find their targeted genres.
These emails used to be comprised of people asking about soundtracks or heavy metal. Now they’re almost entirely from people asking about city pop. I was right, this is becoming a thing.
So I thought I would save everyone the trouble and just detail here the best stores in Tokyo to find city pop. Continue reading
Blown Opportunities and Taking Stands
I was in a record store in Shibuya today (as am I most days) and there was a television crew there interviewing some white dude. I couldn’t hear everything they said, but I could tell they were asking him about why he came to Japan and about record stores in the area.
I was really hopping to get my chance on camera too. So after they finished up his interview, I casually sauntered over to them, hoping they would ask me too.
It turns out they were really mostly interested in tourists, but when I showed them my blog and my massive guide to record stores in Tokyo, they really wanted to talk to me. Before committing, I wanted to know more about what show/network the show would be on.
They told me TV Asahi, so I let out a heavy, depressed sigh and told them I couldn’t do it.
TV Asashi is the home of London Hearts.
And fuck London Hearts. Continue reading
City Pop: Big In Japan?
One of my favorite releases from last year was Tokyo Nights, a compilation featuring Japanese disco and pop from the 80s. I love it because it’s just so upbeat and fun. The tunes just bounce in a way that I don’t hear that often. The best tracks on the CD remind me of early Madonna or Sheena Easton – unabashedly positive pop music made 100% for dancing.
I adore this record, and wanted to hear more from the artists on it, so I went down to Mecano, a record store located in Nakano. Mecano specializes in 80s music, so I figured that it would be the place to go to get my 80s J-pop disco fix. I talked to the owner, reading off some of the names I was looking for, like Hitomi Tohyama and Junko Ohyashi.
He laughed.
He laughed a lot. Continue reading
The Star Wars Trailer Sound Tape – What The Hell is This Thing?
I bought this tape and I don’t know what it is.
I picked it up at a local record store last month. It had literally been there most of the year. First it was priced at 5,000 yen. After a few months with no takers, they sliced it down to 3,000 yen. At that point it became tempting, but I held my ground, telling my boyfriend that I wouldn’t buy it for any more than 2,000 yen. Cue a few months later, and they cut it down to 1,500, so I snagged it.
But, like I said, I don’t know what it is. Continue reading