Takashi’s striped sweater had something Charlie Brown about it, his chain wallet and oversized rims had something Elvis Costello about them, and I have always wanted a pair of leather Chuck Taylors. Carrying a Union Record Bag, naturally, I had to spark up a conversation with him. I told him about Tokyo Record Style but he was expectedly hesitant to just pose for a stranger with a camera. That’s understandable, but since we were already talking, I asked what records he just scored and he pulled out the Ronettes! That very day, I had spotted Phil Spectors’s Christmas Album on […]
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Shimpei
I met Shimpei on the streets of Shinjuku with his new vinyl scores from Disk Union: Peter Tosh’s Bush Doctor and Tom Browne’s Magic. I asked Shimpei why he collects records and he mentioned being a DJ, and when I looked at his Instagram, I can see he’s spinning music every few nights. Shimpei was super friendly as you can see by his warm smile – Looking forward to listening to these records and keeping tabs on Shimpei so I can catch one of his DJ sets. Peter Tosh – Bush DoctorLabel: Rolling Stones Records – CUN 39109Format: Vinyl, […]
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Yuta
Yuta was hanging out with a couple of pals on the streets of Shinjuku holding a recent score from Disc Union. I told him about Tokyo Record Style and asked him to pose for a photo. From his Disk Union Bag, he produced 2 records, neither of which I knew, a repeating occurrence I’m finding. One record was Sweat by the System, Electro Synth-pop which Yuta described basically as Disco. The 2nd record was Teddy Mike’s instrumental funk record, On Point. Looking forward to listening to both these records. Thanks, Yuko for posing for these shots and looking so effortlessly […]
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Anthony
First Tower Records spotting, at Shibuya Crossing! I caught up with Anthony and his wife walking along after what looked like a nice little shopping spree! I initiated a conversation in Japanese, wrongly assuming Anthony was Japanese but when we looked at me a little sideways, not completely understanding, he pulled back his mask revealing a giant and friendly smile, me having been to the “Land of Smiles” instantly suspected Anthony might be… “Where are you from?” “Thailand!” Bingo. Anthony scored Bruno Mars’ XXIVK Magic and told me he was debating between this and one other record, but I’m failing […]
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DJ Bow
DJ Bow’s 12” x 12” square bag caught my eye on the back streets of Shibuya. I could see some friendly eyes behind his mask when I explained why I stopped him, but when I suggested we make a photo right here in the middle of busy Shibuya, he was much more keen to keep a low profile, so we ditched down a back alley and made this image. DJ Bow spins techno and house and asked me not to reveal his identity nor to photograph his face, nor mention the quite famous location he would be DJing the following […]
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DJ Nishiyama
Spotted Nishiyama san on the streets of Shibuya. He was a bit taken aback by me suddenly accosting him with an interest in his records and a request for a photo, but we got some nice music talk going and he showed me his scores, an Akiko Wada double LP and a Hiromi Miyano 7”. Then he produced another curious looking 7” saying “I have no idea what this is, but I got it anyway” – I LOVE THIS, this notion of taking a risk on music, not entirely sure what you’re going to get. When I look back on […]
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Saeka Shimida
A fellow photographer – Saeka! I caught up with her and a pal with a nice stash of records just scored from Jet Set which, a little like Big Love Records, keeps a highly curated inventory of mostly new-ish records, finds that for the more discerning listener. Maybe I’m imagining things, but walking around with records in a Jet Set bag says to the more basic (in that modern dismissive sense) listeners like me, “That gay/gal didn’t just score some records from Jet Set …that person IS A JETSETTER!” That could actually be true because when Saeka produced the records […]
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Joshua and Madeline
I met Joshua and Madeline near General Record Store, and they were quite the photogenic characters. They had just picked up copies of The Ataris – Blue Skies, Broken Hearts… Next 12 Exits (a guilty pleasure admitted Joshua), and Adventures In Stereo / The American Analog Set – After Hours Issue #2, two more records whose bands I only really know by name. Madeline mentioned that she works in translation and Joshua that he works in fashion. They both were very hip and we had a nice chat on the stoops of General. A couple other things to mention is […]
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Koji
I spotted Koji (and his GF, Yoshimi who battles the Pink Robots) on the streets of Shimokita. He had just scored this 1980 New Wave classic of Channel Good by Sheena & the Rokkets from Disc Union. I didn’t know the album but it looked really intriguing and just quite good. After photographing Koji I went home and immediately listened to this record, for the first time (follow link in bio), and as I had expected, it absolutely slays (with a killer version of Creedence’s Suzie Q). While listening to it, I learned about the Mentai Rock scene, the name […]
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Yujiro
I met Yujiro coming out of Disk Union Shimokita as I was walking in. He was on his way to play a gigi with his band, “Blue Damp”, but stopped to pick up a copy of George Smith’s – Oopin’ Doopin’ Blues Harp before heading there. I wasn’t familiar with George Smith (I have a feeling I’m gonna not be familiar with 90% or more of what I photograph here on Tokyo Record Style) but I did mention owning a handful of harmonicas including a chromatic one, the kind with the button on the side that seems to make playing […]
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Eric Jacobsen
Little did I know when I was chatting up Itaru (from the previous post) about Leon Russel, there was Tokyo Institution standing right behind me patiently waiting for me to finish rambling to say hello. If you have had kids in the last 30 years, you probably are familiar with the very famous TV show Eigo de Asobo – Let’s Play English, which like Sesame Street has a bit of a rotating cast of characters with a few major mainstays, and the person featured here has been THE mainstay of this series, and beyond, for a long as I’ve known […]
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Itaru
What are the odds! I caught up with Itaru coming up the street pushing a bicycle and a tote bag on his shoulder and asked him if he might want to pose for Tokyo Record Style. With a warm smile he agrees, reaches into his bag and pulls out, much to my amazement, lo-and-behold, Tulsa hometown hero, Leon Russel, who, as legend has it (according to my parents) had a girlfriend who lived across from my first childhood home, and who used to come around and play with me when I was just a wee kid. I only became aware […]
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Naohiro
Anyway, I had no clue what records Naohiro was showing me, but I’ll check them out and give them a listen in the coming days (All the records photographed are listed on Discogs with info – link in bio). Despite not knowing industrial/goth/metal music well (nor the -waves / -cores), I mentioned that my neighbor (and father of my son’s best pal) is part of legendary industrial outfit, Skinny Puppy, and Naohiro was quite impressed to hear that. We also discussed The Cure’s (one of his favorite bands) recent re-release of “Wish”, which was one of the first CDs I […]
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Yukiko
I take my kids back and forth everyday to Japanese cram school and I pass right by Coconuts Record Shop. I’ve mentioned it here a few times already and will probably be mentioning it a bunch more. Since starting this project, I can’t seem to drive past it without starting to scan the area for people who maybe have just scored some records. Though the vinyl bags are quite cool, they’re quite subtle but I can still easily spot from across the street, which was the case for the one Yukiko was carrying. I stopped her and chatted her up. […]
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Yuji
Stopped by a Tokyo institution the other night, Big Love Records, an independent record shop located in a nondescript apartment building in the backstreets of très chic Harajuku. Big Love Records is more than a record shop, it’s a gallery, an underground label, it’s a fashion brand, a cafe and bar that serves premium coffee and beer-on-tap to patrons and provides Tokyo not only with an amazing curation of new music but with events, art, fashion, pop-ups and tie-ups, and just cool lifestyle. It’s beyond a central cultural resource for Tokyo, but also for the world. So it’s no surprise […]
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Sota
After I walked back to my bike after meeting Tets in the car park under the tracks, I bumped into Sota who had just scored 3 soul and funk records from HMV (where I had spotted him earlier) and Coconuts in Kichijoji. He asked me where I was from and told me the records would have probably been 1/10th of the price or less if he could score them in the American. He told me he got his taste for Soul and Funk from his father who used to bring them back from the States. Sota told me he is […]
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Tets Igeta
I met Tets on the streets of Kichijoji with Matty Fresh (from the previous post). He hadn’t any records with him in that moment so I didn’t really think to make his photo. But it was nice to meet him. It was even nicer to run into him again about 15 minutes later at HMV digging through the jazz records, and chat him up a bit more. He mentioned knowing Matty from his days in Brisbane and we got to talking about DJing and he pulls out an image from his phone of 2 face-to-face dueling DJ decks, 4 turntables […]
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Matty Fresh
I spotted a woman in a plaid jacket carrying a record store bag, walking along the opposite side of the street. If I could dash ahead and catch the green light, I could possibly intercept her at the crosswalk for a photo. I locked in on the plaid jacket, rounded the corner, bustled through the malaise of people crossing, got tripped up by a couple wheeling along a pair of suitcases. Wait, where’d plaid-jacket girl go? Search around. I lost her. Poof! Vanished. Dammit. Momentarily defeated, I leaned again the street rail to lament, when out from the shop right […]
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Saki and Haruko
I hesitate to make a comment that could be so easily misconstrued as naive or chauvinistic …but throwing caution to the wind: record-collecting girls are just the coolest. I don’t know exactly why, but they just are. A girl with a record bag, in my eyes, is infinitely more stylish than one with a designer bag. I met these two lovely ladies, Saki and Tomoka outside Coconuts Records in Kichijoji, which has become one of my favorite record stores in Tokyo. I’ve lived just down the street from Coconuts for more than a decade but only discovered it in the […]
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Dog Log x Tokyo Record Style
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Yasu san
Garageville Records Have I mentioned the “Goldilocks Zone” of Tokyo Record Stores yet? Stores that are located outside of the city center where they have a totally unique flavor, are never particularly crowded, not picked over and even slightly less expensive, but close enough to Tokyo to have all the good stuff and then some. Garageville is indeed one such shop in the Goldilocks Zone. It’s a bar and record shop, with a premium and tasty-looking bottle beer selection, pringles to snack on, heaps of great records, two Thorens TD 124s behind the bar with those big beautiful Ortofon SPU […]
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Akio
I met Akio san outside of Disk Union in Shimokitazawa. His scooter was parked next to my bike and when I saw him about to stash some records under the scooter, I sparked a chat with him. He’s an acupuncturist caregiver with many patients around Shimokita. He said the kinda care he offers provides great relief to patients in pain but is quite exhausting and stressful work for him and that picking up new music every day provides him with his relief. I said, “That’s great work but, every day?” He said, yes, that he comes every day, without fail […]
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Masuyama
Ever see video game soundtracks in the record store crates? Ever wonder who buys them? Well, I met one on the way home last night – Masuyama! I stopped Masuyama out in front of Disk Union in Shimokita and asked him what he scored and he pulled out this intriguing gem which I had no idea about. Masuyama explained it was released by Nintendo for a game …OK, interesting. We had a nice chat and he did a cool pose for me. Thanks, Masa for the photo and for sharing your record with me! But wait, there is more… I […]
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Sue
I live about 20 min from my office by motorcycle and no matter which route I take back, there must be at least 20 records shops (if not more) that I drive right past. Being a photographer for these nearly 20 years here, I’ve always been attuned to the notion that Tokyo is a kind of photography mecca. There are so many (read: TOO many) photography galleries, camera shops, amazing scenic spots, photo-loving people and culture that it’s hard to keep up with it all. It’s everywhere, all the time. I’ve always known about Tokyo’s record store scene, and hi-fi […]
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Yoshiki, Dani, Arita, and Jay
Good early morning from Tokyo Record Style. Thanks for all the follows, shares, and comments! This is gonna be a lot of fun 🙂 Next up is this 4-member squad (Yoshiki, Dani, Arita, and Jay) I also ran into at @flashdiscranch in Shimokita last weekend. They were cool and scored some pretty interesting looking records (see comments for titles and links). I’ll have to keep thinking of the best way of doing this, maybe a link in bio or a Spotify playlist. A lot came to mind in the last few days, the mental checklist the project needs. Anyway, more […]
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Haruko
I met a cool record collector and saxophonist, Haruko at Flash Disc Ranch yesterday who scored Stanley Turrentine’s West Side Highway from ‘78 and No ‘Count by fellow saxophonist Frank Foster recorded in ‘56 on the Savoy label, both I think she mentioned being recommended to her by Flash’s aficionado, Tsubaki san. I want to point out that this project is called Tokyo Record STYLE for a reason. It’s not just about records, or music – it’s also about style (not fashion per se, cuz I couldn’t really tell ya, but style, yes). Haruko was rawkin’ a sweet gray leather […]
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Masao Tsubaki
Flash Disk RanchHands down, the absolutely coolest record shop in all of Tokyo is, without a doubt, Flash Disc Ranch in Shimokitazawa, run by a consummate record store cult hero, Masao Tsubaki. I think Shimokita has been my stomping grounds for so long, since before iPhone days, that I actually witnessed the mp3/digital revolution, tragically wipe out a handful of awesome local independent record stores that had struggled to stay afloat (with no help from giants like Disk Union, Tower, and HMV). I remember lamenting almost decades now ago “There goes another one…” “…and another” and at one point I […]
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Michael Warren
Tokyo Record Style’s first official victim! My dear pal, musician extraordinaire (check out one of his many bands including Honest People), fellow Top 5 Records Podcast co-host (links eventually is bio), Michael Warren, in town from beautiful Aomori. Michael and I came to know each other through record-collecting 4 or 5 years ago and have pretty much connected nearly every day since sharing musical musing on our imaginary radio show: “The Dog Log” (upon which we have logged thousands of hours). Love hitting the record stores with Michael when he’s in town, which is quite often. He always takes cool […]
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Brian Scott Peterson
Hey! Welcome to my new Instagram where I am going to be documenting record-collecting, record shops, music-loving in Tokyo, and all the freaks, weirdos, and hipsters whose passion for music knows no bounds! I’m Brian, 20-year Tokyo resident and life-long record-collector and music lover! Follow me for a glimpse into this supremely cool subculture and share your passion for music with me! Pose for my camera and show me the records you just scored! See you out there, Tokyo! Look out for the guy with the records and the camera! Santo & Johnny – Sleep WalkLabel: Canadian American Records, Ltd. […]