This audio is generated by AI, so pronunciation and expressions may not be fully accurate. The narration is only in English.
The Record Industry Association of Japan says that 2023 saw the number of analogue records produced jump 26% from the previous year. Imarc Group expects this growth to continue, projecting the Japanese vinyl market will grow from $85.5 million in 2024 to $165.3 million by 2033. Tower Records' flagship store in Shibuya reflected this optimism for analogue by unveiling its refurbished record floor in February 2024, which had almost doubled in size to cater for the growing numbers of international buyers snapping up vinyl.
Hardcore collectors and audiophiles have long sought out rare Japanese pressings of their favorite artists. Japanese vinyl was considered to be of higher quality, particularly Toshiba's static-resistant Ever-Clean red vinyl, issued between 1958 and 1974. Other factors in the popularity of Japanese pressings are the Japan-specific obi—a paper strip on one side of the record—and Japan's reputation for beautifully kept secondhand goods.
However, in recent years, vinyl collectors have expanded their search to include Japanese music, old and new. Though its appeal is still niche, Joel Green, the mail order manager of Crash Records in Leeds, United Kingdom, says the number of young consumers discovering Japanese music is noticeably increasing.
"It's mainly young folks (buying Japanese music) who have accessed it through social media and the YouTube algorithm," he explains.
"There are lots of people encouraging others to discover more music, such as NTS Radio and My Analog Journey," agrees Rintaro Sekizuka, founder of Vinyl Delivery Service (VDS), which has a store in London and at Skwat Kameari Art Centre, a vast 3,000 square-meter converted warehouse in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward that opened last November.
"Stuff like (Yellow Magic Orchestra) and Ryuichi Sakamoto are the main ones people always look for," says Sacco Vanzetti, founder of Uptown Record Store in the Koenji neighborhood. "A lot of people are looking for '80s pop, '80s synth pop, new wave or city pop. I would say those are the trending ones. But then, because of YouTube there's also interest in psychedelic rock, jazz and more avant-garde artists."
These preferences differ from the artists and genres domestic collectors purchase.
"It's a big difference," says Sekizuka. "Japanese jazz was very big in the '70s and '80s, so there's a lot of great stuff out there. When I stock it in the London shop, it's gone very quickly, but in Japan, it stays there for a long time. I think it's because we have seen so many in the record shops in Japan."
Sekizuka himself has played a significant role in the rising interest in Japanese music abroad. VDS London is the first Japanese export specialist in the U.K. capital, introducing a new audience to Japanese music.
"The idea is to stock rare records alongside those people can easily find in Japan but not Europe," he says. "Slowly people expand their listening and then dig deeper."
Founder of Tokyo-based JPvinyl.com, Matthew Ketchum, has also made it his business to bring Japanese music to a wider, international audience. He curates boxes of Japanese vinyl for subscribers and offers a bespoke service to procure hard-to-find records that have been requested by individual clients.
"I use (Japan Post), but it gets really expensive," he says. "The minimum shipping for a single record, which is a maximum of 200 grams, is ¥3,600, so my customers always have a particularly high level of interest (in Japanese music)."
With just a handful of physical record stores stocking it and prohibitively expensive shipping costs, the international market for Japanese vinyl remains niche.
Japanese vinyl's rise in popularity intersects with the weak yen and record-breaking influx of tourists. Many collectors and resellers are seizing the opportunity to purchase vinyl—some to explore Japanese music more deeply while others bring records home to share with fellow enthusiasts. The combination of affordable local prices and the absence of international shipping fees has helped nurture the soaring sales figures.
"If you are a record store owner and you come to Japan and spend a thousand bucks on records here, you can take them back and easily pay for your trip to Japan—possibly with one record," says Brian Scott Peterson, founder of Tokyo Record Style, a website that celebrates record collecting and record shops.
Resellers capitalising on the favorable exchange rates have ruffled some feathers in the secondhand vinyl scene in Japan, where some resellers have noticed subsequent price increases which potentially price domestic collectors out. However, Ketchum has strong opinions on those frustrated over the perceived overconsumption of inbound vinyl buyers.
"I consider that mindset suicidal gatekeeping for a business," says Ketchum. "Not only are you not conducting good business, but you're keeping people from music that should be accessible to anybody with the means to access it."
Sekizuka agrees that this mindset isn't compatible with the realities of an open market.
"That's how it is now," he says. "I have a shop in London, and I have a shop in Tokyo, so I see the differences. The market prices are different—what Japanese people and European people can afford is different, so we keep the market price lower in Japan.
"For me, it's not about making lots of money," Sekizuka continues. "It's about sustaining the music scene and sharing the music. By exporting lots of Japanese records, people will listen and it will play a role in inspiring the creation of new, different music. The culture is a cycle, you know? We are just a piece of the whole history of music."
