Our Man In Kyoto, Jonti Davies Explores the City's Finest Record Stores

even if you've never been or don't plan on going, Kyoto vinyl shop photos and descriptions prove enticing

Our man in Japan, Jonti Davies takes us on a tour of Kyoto's record stores_ed.

Kyoto is not only a microcosm of everything that those on the outside looking in love about Japan—vermilion torii gates x infinity, the pale pink petals of sakura trees, and occasional whiter-than-white geisha faces—it’s also home to a thriving underground live music scene, a friendly cottage recording industry of local labels and cassette-sharing, and a central mile or two filled with excellent record shops. Here are ten of my favorites, followed by the best of the rest.

 

 Recordshop GG

Recordshop GG’s owner Kenji, aka “Jiji” (hence the shop’s name), is a former nurse who decided in 2022 to switch to a career involving shorter needles. His stock is an even spread of old jazz, folk, rock, and trad Japanese music, with a sprinkling of exotica. He even has a supplier in the north of England who delivers pre-Fairport Convention vintage British folk music for what is an unlikely but real (Jiji assures me) local clientele of listeners to heavily accented countryside songs about cider and harvesting that even I, a born and bred Brit, struggle to comprehend. A coffered ceiling and ideal space measurements provide excellent acoustics, so the music Jiji plays from his vintage Denon deck through a pair of small JBL monitors at the back of the shop provides a sonically pleasing background to some relaxed digging. Recordshop GG is a short walk from Kitayama Station on the subway line, right next to a bridge across Kyoto’s iconic Kamo River.

 Meditations

 Meditations has a full-on Buddhist/Hindu/Indian vibe, with incense, power stones and other paraphernalia on sale in the middle of the shop. Opened in 2002, this immaculate space holds a perfectly curated selection of ambient, new age, drone, minimal, and other left-field musics. Co-owner Shinota-san told me that the approach to choosing what to stock is based on “instinct” with the overall aim of bringing in “only good records… which isn’t easy.” EM Records? You’ll find a whole section devoted to Osaka’s finest label. Basic Channel? Check. Honest Jon’s? Tick. You get the idea. Meditations is stoner/hipster nirvana, even featuring a Hindustani/Bollywood section. In fact, pre-pandemic, the Meditations guys would travel to India most years on vinyl-sourcing missions, even discovering a few original copies of Charanjit Singh’s legendary 1982 set Synthesizing – Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat. They’re hoping to return to India later this year to bring back more gems.

 100000t alonetoco

Ramshackle in the extreme—you’re likely to find a copy of McCartney’s Ram next to a Shackleton 12”—this place is pure junk-shop, with records set out in no particular order within confoundingly broad categories. But spend a couple of hours digging in random directions and you’ll nearly always strike gold. Sitting next to a still-sealed display copy of Boogie Back, a rare and expensive (¥29,800) slice of ’90s hip-hop from Schadaraparr, owner and local scene leader Kaji-san belly-laughs when I offer my succinct review of his shop: “Gocha-gocha ya na.” (“This place is a mess!”) Yet I leave with something I wanted and didn’t expect to find: Ryo Takematsu’s Six-O-Seven Blues, a 3 x 7” set of neo-blues guitar numbers including John Fahey covers. 100000t alonetoco also has a cool range of books, music DVDs and CDs, and it’s conveniently located in the same building as the next store in our list… 

 Workshop Records

One floor up from 1000000t alonetoco is the much more orderly Workshop Records, antidote to the mayhem downstairs. As Linton Kwesi Johnson’s “Inglan Is a Bitch” plays in the background to remind me of home and why I left, friendly and knowledgeable owner-proprietor Naemura-san is checking the condition of a newly-arrived Japanese green vinyl edition of The Beatles 1960-1962 (a 1986 pressing on Overseas Records) that looks minter than mint. (Spearmint, perhaps.) He explains that Workshop has no online store because internet retail is “such a pain… packing records all the time, can you imagine?!” He also prefers the human connection that can only be enjoyed at bricks+mortar stores, and in a shop like this, which covers all bases (jazz local and international, classic rock, blues, reggae, punk, etc.) with quality options, the feeling is very much mutual.

 Plastic Soul Records

Listening bar, café and record shop under one roof, Plastic Soul Records opened in December 2022 but feels like it’s been here for decades. That’s partly thanks to the décor, with vintage posters, wooden floors, warm lighting and a few choice pieces of original mid-century furniture. It’s also down to the owner, DJ and barista Asada-san, a righteous dude who named this place after “an old American blues guitarist’s description of The Rolling Stones’ music” and because he likes the story of how Paul McCartney adapted that for The Beatles’ Rubber Soul (and “just because the name has a good ring to it”). Plastic Soul is heavy on jazz, Jamaican music (I picked up an original copy of Augustus Pablo’s King Tubby-produced Ital Dub on my most recent visit), and inevitably soul, which Asada-san happily spins on his SL-1200s in a never-ending feel-good mix. Plastic Soul is set on a quiet backstreet a short walk from the Kamigamo Jinja shrine; there’s no station nearby, so the best way to get here is by bus or bicycle, but it’s a trip worth taking.

 Parallax Records

 Experimental music headz and the avant garde-curious will get a buzz out of Parallax Records. Manager Katsura Mouri is a wild turntablist who fashions exquisite drones and hums out of the abused circuit boards of battery-operated toy record players; she’s even been known to kick decks in her live performances, but that’s a story for another time!

The actual selection of vinyl at Parallax is limited but hand-picked by Mouri-san, highlighting only the most out-there of records in various left-field niches. The CDs and cassettes on offer are equally mind-bending. Oh and the flooring is made of old records. Visiting Parallax is above all a tactile experience.

 Art Rock No. 1

 One of the mainstays of Kyoto’s record shop scene, operated by the guy who also organizes many of the city’s regular record fairs together with other stores, Art Rock No. 1 recently moved to more spacious premises (the old place was infamous for having aisles barely wide enough for single file movement) and still stocks the same broad range of sounds. City Pop-chasers in particular would do well to dig here.

 Honto Record

One of the grubbiest record shops in Kyoto but with youth on its side, Honto Record is a dope hangout where you can find underpriced gems in everything from Blue Note to deep house and beyond. On a recent visit I bought a copy of Shigeharu Mukai’s killer 1984 Japonesia dub/fusion album for just ¥1,000 and an old Japanese King Record (always superior to Toshiba) pressing of Paul Chambers’ Blue Note masterpiece Bass On Top for ¥1,500. In mint condition! Cash only, so make sure you bring plenty of paper. 

 Hard Bop

Buried at the back of a nondescript building, the only way to know Hard Bop exists is to bump into the small sign out front, which is placed at knee height in the middle of a narrow path seemingly for that very purpose. Hard Bop has been here for more than 30 years, and it sells an A to Z of the finest canonical jazz records. Nothing more, nothing less. The owner is way beyond retirement age and staunchly analog, even in his sales method: “It’s tough to make ends meet dealing only in jazz records in Kyoto. Even when I set up this place in the early ‘90s, I knew it would be impossible to turn a good profit, but jazz is my life and I’ve always done mail order on the side to get by. I have regular customers in Tokyo who call me on the phone, and we chat about what I have in stock, the condition of the vinyl, and so on. The internet is not for me.” I really respect the passion, resolve and single-bloody-mindedness of Hard Bop and its noble owner—offline, under the radar, unfashionable and filled with great jazz records, this is one of Kyoto’s deepest joints.

 Jet Set Records

 I was conflicted about including Jet Set in this list. Really, it’s here as a “lifetime achievement” recognition more than a “this place will blow your mind” recommendation for the now. But going back a couple of decades, Jet Set Records was the place to be, a hipper-than-thou, impeccably designed emporium spread across two whole floors of an eight-story building (cutting-edge electronic music on the 7th floor, amazing vintage discs on the 6th) with informed, passionate staff spinning killer records and rare grooves all day long. The sound systems and selections were flawless. As soon as the elevator doors opened, it felt like stepping into a private loft club. But now there’s only one floor open to the public (the other is used for distribution and Jet Set’s own label ops) and a single bored-looking staff member sits tapping away at a computer, barely acknowledging anyone or anything while an NTS radio stream fills the air with sounds that are not actually here. So it’s a bit sad for those of us who saw Jet Set in its pomp, but you’ll still find a solid range of records (mostly new) across a broad spread of genres. Shrug.

Sixth Garden Records

 Opened just last year, Sixth Garden Records is the independent operation of former Jet Set Records employee and DJ of 20+ years, Koji-san. His boutique is on the second floor of a large building at the northwest corner of the famous Heian Shrine grounds. There’s a DIY ethic about Sixth Garden, with boxes on the floor full of random old records priced at ¥500 and even ¥200 (one person’s junk may be a digger’s delight), above which stand (at a more comfortable browsing height) row upon row of used electronic records covering minimal techno, dub techno, deep house, industrial, new wave, experimental, and more. Koji himself is an affable chap who will let you listen to anything you like on headphones while he plays through a trusty pair of Sony SS-G7 speakers the kind of music and mixes where every other track tempts you to ask him for an ID. Sixth Garden also puts on occasional ad-hoc live shows, so be sure to ask if there’s anything coming up when you visit.

 

Also worth a visit…

 Joe’s Garage

Run by a friendly old rocker and adapting Warhol’s VU banana as its logo, Joe’s Garage is just north of Shijo-dori, Kyoto’s main shopping street, and sells jazz and rock records at very fair prices handed over in banana-emblazoned bags that make for cool souvenirs. Only downside is the thick cigarette smoke. 

 Bootsy’s

Bootsy’s is a no-compromise kind of place. Cash only, for one thing. The mood is a bit serious, too, verging on dour, but the records are top-notch. Mainly pre-1980s.

Cremona Records

On the top floor of a random building to the northwest of Kyoto’s old Imperial Palace, Cremona is a family business that’s been passed down through three generations to the current owner. A 50-50 split of jazz and rock records, including genuine rarities marked (correctly) at prices into tens of thousands of yen…

 Super Milk

 The first record shop I ever visited in Kyoto, and yes, I’ll admit I was taken in by the bizarre name. Hip-hop and jazz are the main genres at Super Milk.

 Toradra Records

Up a couple of flights of stairs, above a hair salon and on the same row as a shisha bar in one of central Kyoto’s sleazier nooks, Toradra is laid-back and does a good line in jazz, rock, soul, and reggae. 

 pocoapoco

 A dark basement filled with all sorts. The air is somber, almost intimidating, but the selection of pre-1980s Japanese music in particular is pretty impressive.

 Hotline

Hotline has been here since 1985. It feels like it’s on its last legs, so visit while you still can.

 Second Royal Shop

A small shop run by Kyoto indie label Second Royal Records in a quiet neighborhood west of the city center, selling other records from indies and majors alongside their own quirky output.

 Prototype Records

A cool little spot just off the Teramachi shopping arcade with a decent but limited collection and BGM pumped through a pair of JBL 4311A monitors.

 Hachi Record Shop and Bar

 We’re getting into listening bar territory here (which will be better served in a future article), but Hachi does have a small retail side to its operation upstairs.

 Taiyo

 To slide open the shaky doors to Taiyo is to step back 50 years to a time when Japanese folk rock was at its pacific peak. The owner was probably in his thirties then, and he was very happy to reminisce when I recently picked out a Maki Asakawa album and asked for some Yoshi Ikuzo records. Cash only.

 Davada Coffee & Records

Similar to the concept of Plastic Soul Records but with fewer records and more of a focus on serving high-grade drip coffee. Only a few minutes’ walk from Kyoto Station, so worth dropping by when you first arrive and need a shot of caffeine. Or a record.

 Black Ark

 Pure Jamaican fire, Black Ark is named after Lee Perry’s studio of the 1970s. Rough original presses, stacks of sevens, top tunes galore.

About Jonti Davies:

Jonti Davies moved from the UK to Japan at the age of 20. Two decades on, he is a translator and writer whose words have appeared everywhere from The Wire  to Time Out, and whose own leftfield productions and mixes of Japanese music are played on BBC Radio Lancashire's long-running On The Wire show. Jonti is also passionate about vintage audio gear: his current system includes a restored Thorens TD 125 Mk II, a tube-driven Luxman SQ38FD amp, and a pair of Altec 600B speakers from 1947. A lifelong fan of Japanese underground music, you’ll find him listening at obscure live venues around Kyoto and Osaka most weeks. Introduce yourself and he'll happily buy you a beer.