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Story #1 : record digging adventures in Tokyo
For this first episode of Plexus Stories*, Guillaume shares the story of his very first trip to Japan.
Published on May 13, 2023
by Plexus
* What are these Plexus Stories?
Have a coffee, spin a record, sit back and enjoy this article : Plexus shares his memories, anecdotes and record store secrets...
A little background
It's February 2015, and the global vinyl market has been revived for some time. The pressing factories are running at full speed, and a whole new generation of record shops are opening up independently, in France and all over the world.
2015 is a milestone year : the new releases market is growing and a whole economy is taking off. New releases are almost all in vinyl format, and reissues of "classics" - whether by the majors or independent labels - are taking up a huge share of production. Prices are already starting to skyrocket and record shop margins are getting smaller and smaller.
As for second-hand records, good collections are becoming rarer, and efforts must be redoubled to succeed in offering original and quality selections. The record shop business is becoming increasingly complex and highly competitive.
I was lucky enough to meet a certain Qpchan at that time...
I met Jérôme in the early 2010s, when we ran into each other at record fairs and markets in the French backcountry.
He was certainly one of the most hardcore diggers of that time... Able to spend a whole day at a convention going through all the bins until the last record with an infinite rigour and patience. This perfectionist and completist spirit allowed Jérôme to discover an incredible number of fantastic records, totally ignored or neglected by collectors.
His Youtube channel "Crème 2 la crème" - set up with his sidekick Raphael Top Secret - was in itself a founding element of a whole new scene of diggers in Europe*.
His curiosity and his life path soon led him to go on an adventure much further than his Chatellerault suburb (medium town in French backcountry), and to end up settling in the heart of the "city of records": Tokyo.
Without having eaten a single local snack, we went to the first record shop that came along: Face Records*, at the time almost unknown to the foreign public and full of bargains in city-pop, rare groove and Japanese jazz.
I had no idea what to expect from the rest of the trip, but I already knew that something unreal was happening here.
*Face Records is certainly the only independent shop in Tokyo to have really communicated internationally. They quickly adapted to the foreign market and succeeded in making available, either through their website or their communication on the social medias, a selection of exotic and unique records from our "gaijin" point of view. They perfectly anticipated the growing success of the Japanese vinyl market, which allowed them to open other shops later on: General Records, Face Miyashita, Face NYC...)
After spending a few minutes in this first shop and buying 2-3 Japanese Hip-Hop EPs among the few references I knew at the time (Muro, Krush, Nujabes), we went out to visit other independant shops.
A well-deserved sleep break
Settled in a midclass hotel off the beaten track, the disorientation continues at full speed: on the wise advice of Stéphane from the Lézard Noir (French publishing house), I had booked a room in a small building usually reserved for Japanese visitors.
Not a word of English at the reception, a traditional service, a timeless decoration, common baths in the basement... in short, a small paradise disconnected from the tourist reality of Tokyo.
Day 2, Lesson 2
The next day, we plan a little more the continuation of my stay: we have hardly 10 short days left to discover this megalopolis and its surroundings. I already know that I won't be able to do everything we'd planned. Direction Shinjuku, and first stop in a Disk Union basement specialized in Japanese music*: a small corner frequented by Jerome for a few years already.
Here I am, just arrived in this small and cramped 20m2...
and I find myself totally lost!
Because yes, at that time, not a single effort was made by the Disk Union staff for foreigners: dividers entirely in Japanese, unusual titles and classifications, no dialogue possible with the salesmen... And above all: my knowledge of Japanese music was very poor.
The mini JBL system (we'll take the time to come back in detail on the Japanese fascination for this American brand in an upcoming episode dedicated to Hifi in Japan) plays a looped mix of classic-breaks and gets the adrenaline pumping, the atmosphere is unique and perfect... and makes me forget the fact that I'm digging in one of the biggest record shop chains on the planet.
The whole paradox of Disk Union's success lies in this balance: having the largest and most important stock in the world (in vinyl and -most of all- in cd), while still offering a selected selection of titles that is as specialized as possible.
Admittedly, this huge machinery may seem a bit impersonal (a turn-over of several thousand records per day, huge teams of staff, complete computerisation of the activity) but it alone symbolises the success of the Japanese economic model. It is only with the necessary hindsight of many trips to the record capital that I have really managed to understand how unique this "chain" of shops is, and that it completes a certain form of ideal of the record shop business through its structural and economic perfection. Yes, there is certainly something missing in this business, something more human or more personal, but we can't imagine a more exemplary and grandiose success in our profession.
A trip? No: a collector's dream marathon
It's the beginning of the tour of the city punctuated by these stops in the different departments of Disk Union, but also in all the independents who still resist to the frantic rhythm of the turnover of this giant of the music distribution.
I buy the latest edition of the Tokyo record shops guide and start to really understand... it would take more than a lifetime to go through this infinite list.
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