Vacation in Japan, ideas and hints appreciated

[jsusi]

Hey all,

I'll be travelling to Japan with my wife in July (from 7th to 27th). Mostly we will be staying in Kyoto, and about a week in Tokyo. We are also taking trips by train to some other places for a day or stay over night.

We've been in Japan (Kyoto, Tokyo, Hiroshima) few years back so we have seen the 'obvious' places and attractions. This time we would like to more just hang out and relax. We already have some plans (ryokan, onsen, Kyoto monkey mountain, Ghibli museum etc.) but it would be nice see if you guys have any ideas!

So, if here's anyone who could give us any hints for nice things to see and do, it would be appreciated. Also, hints for nice record stores (used & new vinyl) are more than welcome (for me, not so much my wife's cup of tea)!

And if there are any good gigs happening at that time, we are interested (or a good site to check them out). Thanks!

[Korgull Of Morgoth]

I've been to Japan four times now and it has always been a blast. Not a single day goes by without thinking about it.

 

I have been to the monkey mountain in Kyoto and that was super funny.

Walked by the Ghibli museum and into that nice park nearby. Remember, you have to make a reservation for your visit!

Are guys considering Mount Fuji? If so let me know, I can give you a couple of hints to make it easier on your health 

 

Best way to find out about shows in Tokyo is http://www.tokyogigguide.com/gigs?lang=en Check it out in the next weeks as more stuff might be added. 

 

Hopefully your lady will be busy with some other activities because record hunting in Tokyo will take a lot of your time if done properly.

I can say without fear of contradiction that it's the best spot in the whole world to buy records. I have been to NYC, London, Berlin, Paris, younameit but nothing comes even close. Following is a cross post from my Discogs contribution on their record store international forum 

Spoilering it for length:

 

Doing the rounds of all the Disk Unions in town is mandatory. 
Shinjuku and Ochanomizu have the most DU branches scattered around a few blocks. There's also Second Hands for hifi equipment in the same boros. 
Ask for the maps of the other DU shops in the first one you find: over the years I visited the ones in Takadanobaba (new opening), Shibuya (4 stores in the same building), Ikebukuro (close to the JR station), Shimokitazawa and Nakano (close to the JR stations as well). I also tried the DU shop in Kichijoji this last summer, pretty close to the Ghibli museum. 
All of them will provide you with some gems and will inflict severe damage to your pockets/creditto cado  
Never been to the Tachikawa and Machida DU stores. 

Recofan in Shibuya is INSANE. Great selection of EVERYTHING and cheap prices as well. Always spend at least a couple of hours there. Any record from the '60s/'70s/'80s that you're looking for it's there waiting for you. The Reconfan is Ikebukuro is not bad but much smaller than the Shibuya shop. I always find interesting stuff in the 100 yen crates there. 

While in Ikebukuro you might want to try Daruyama in the back streets near the JR station: a bit pricy but cool store nonetheless (http://darumaya.to/) 

Besides the Disk Union branches, while in Shinjuku visit Vinyl Japan (Vinyl Japan #1 – Nishi-Shinjuku 7-4-7 (03-3365-0910) (look for the pink VJ sign pointing to the basement) and Warehouse/Nat records (1 minute walk from VJ, map here http://natrecords.shop-pro.jp/?mode=f4). 
VJ carries LOTS of 80's wave/pop/synth stuff as well as 70's prog/punk/whatnot records. 
Warehouse/Nat are 2 different shops in the same room: Nat is mostly punk/hc/metal, Warehouse oldies/2nd hand goodies. 
There are more shops in the area: Airs (audio and dvd bootlegs) and a soft rock/AOR shop called Shinjuku Records. 

Koenji has a couple of cool punk/metal stores: Base Records (http://www.recordshopbase.com/contact.html) and Boy Records (in the Pal arcade close to the JR station, Koenji Building 303 4-7-10, Koenji Minami Suginami, Tokyo 166-0003). In the arcade you can find Be-In Records which focuses mostly on '60s and '70s rarities (http://www.bein.co.jp/index.htm). 

Jet Set in Shimokitazawa will be good for the electronica geek (http://www.jetsetrecords.net/location)scroll down for the Tokyo one. 

Warszawa in Shibuya (http://www.warszawa.jp/) is kinda good and close to the Disk Union/Recofan shops. 

 

Do not hesitate to drop me a line should need more help   

[paranoidantroyd]

Buy tons of records and instead of spending a fortune on shipping them back to the states just pack them in your suitcase and ship your clothes back.

[Korgull Of Morgoth]

Forgot to add more about Kyoto and Osaka...

 

Kyoto didn't have much. A couple of so-so stores and the Jet Set flagship store (the other one is in Shimokitazawa).

Osaka has a much more (Time Bomb, King Kong, the JJ chain, 8 beater...). All of them are located around the Namba neighborhood.

 

In Japan you can also find lots of excellent supplies for vinyl care, turntable upgrades, stylus cleaning and so on. Akihabara has a huge Yodobashi Camera shop and there's another one in Shinjuku.

[jhook]

Buy tons of expensive punk records for pennies on the dollar.

[jsusi]

Awesomesauce! Thanks for the tips so far!

Last time we were there we went to the monkey mountain and silly to say, it was propably the highlight of the whole trip! So definitely will be going there again. We also went to Fuji, or one of the nearby lakes (can't remember what it was now) anyway, and perhaps won't be going there now. But we'll see, we have a two week train pass so it's easy to go.

Luckily my wife has hobbies of her own that will keep her occupied while I'm browsing the record stores… Still, I must not to do that but just for a couple of days, I want to enjoy Japan other ways also!

[Korgull Of Morgoth]

I want to enjoy Japan other ways also!

Oh yeah, the blow job bars!

How could I forget about those fine establishments?!?