Yamanashi Vinyl
For those interested in buying records, this is an introduction to some record stores in the area. Even if you’re not in the market for music on wax, these places are founts of information (local events and shops) and also stock merchandise, CDs, and plenty of atmosphere.
I asked each owner the source of their store name, the best place to see live music, and which album, currently in stock, had their favorite cover.
Big Flat
Proprietor: Big Ben
Location: 1259-2 Kamikanogawa, Yamanashi-shi. Just a few minutes walk from North exit of Yamanashi Station. There’s parking for one car in front.
Friend and fellow rapper Dengaryu suggested the name. Big Ben’s last name is 太平 (taihei.) Changing 太 to 大 (Big) and translating 平 (Flat) you get a name that not only echoes its owner’s name but also, for me, evokes the shape of an LP.
Inside Big Flat
Live Music Recommendation - Sakuraza for live music, Kofu Jazz clubs, and Juju for DJs
Cover Art - Mixed Bag by Richie Havens
In Big Flat, you immediately notice many things Thai. Friend and filmmaker, Tomita Katsuya, introduced Big Ben to Thai music (Big Ben also appears briefly in Tomita’s film Bangkok Nites) and he became so fond of it that he sells classic Thai vocal music and Northeast traditional music as well as contemporary hip-hop from Southeast Asia.
Some of my purchases from Big Flat
LaidBack
Proprietor: Takasugi-san
Location: Chuo 5-3-21, Kofu-shi. On a nondescript street (Mikkamachi-dori) in East/Central Kofu. If you walk east on Ginza Pedestrian Street, then keep going once it becomes a traffic street. About a block and a half on the right. (It’s less than five minutes from the Washington Hotel.) If you’re driving, I think you can park for free next door.
Takasugi-san just wanted a name that sounds nice - the feeling you have when you’re listening to records. (I have to say, when I saw the shop’s sign from a distance, I immediately suspected it was a record store.)
Inside LaidBack
Live Music Recommendation - “I don’t go out for live music recently…but Sakuraza.”
Cover Art - Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly is very popular for its cover but that album wasn’t in stock at the time. So, Benzaiten by Osamu Kitajima.
The sought-after Donald Fagen LP
Some of my purchases from LaidBack
Buggin’ Out
Proprietor: Ganmori
Location: 904-4 Kamikuribara, Yamanashi. You should probably drive. There’s a parking spot out front.
While the selection includes jazz, classic rock, Japanese pop and more, the shop’s focus is on hip-hop and source material for DJs (rare groove, reggae, breakbeats, etc.) Buggin’ Out is the second track on A Tribe Called Quest’s classic The Low End Theory.
Inside Bugging’ Out
Live Music Recommendation: Juju is good for DJ sets, the 101 Building has good events. The best live event is Kamikane, held in Enzan. (There were events in 2018 and 2019 but this year’s had to be cancelled.)
Ganmori’s Office/DJ Booth
Cover Art - The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest
My most recent purchases from Bugging’ Out
These shops are good places to find out about events and other cool stores.
Links
Your Nearest Bookstore
徴古堂 (Choukodou), Chuo 4-5-24, Kofu
This may come as a surprise but nearly a third of the records I have here in Japan I bought at this Kofu bookstore. The DeAgostini company (which also sell things like Godzilla DVDs, Star Wars fact files, How-to-do-Magic guides, Thunderbirds models, How-to-build-a robot or metal detector or theremin, Back to the Future DeLorean models, just the tip of the iceberg here folks) has had three LP collection series available in Japanese bookstores. The three series were the Beatles, Queen, and the Jazz LP collection. New records were released every two weeks. All three series have finished but some overseas DeAgostini branches have done others including Blues on Vinyl, Bob Dylan, and Italian Prog Rock.
To consider Hard-Off (and also Book-Off Plus) for a moment -
I have certainly found some good stuff at the Hard-Off on Alps Street and at the one on Route 20, adjoining Star Lane Bowling Futaba. I’ve seen decent stuff at Book-Off Plus but the bins of records were pretty much a mess and I’ve never bought anything there. Some time ago I bought records at 万代書店 (Mandai Shoten) on Alps Street near the Kaikoku Bridge. They didn’t have too many records then and I grabbed the few that I thought looked good. Recently I saw that they have a lot more records for sale but most everything was thrown together haphazardly. It bears keeping in mind that Hard-Off staff handles computers, cameras, musical instruments, watches, and so on, and Mandai Shoten staff handles an even wider variety of merchandise. The owners of Big Flat, LaidBack, and Buggin’ Out know how to appraise records and how to organize them, they know their stock, and they probably know a lot about what they don’t have in stock. You may luck onto some gem at a Hard-Off but I doubt you’ll find what you’re really looking for. Best to go to one of the aforementioned stores and ask. They’ll steer you right.