Sitting pretty amidst electronics retailers, hobby shops, and anime and manga speciality stores on Otaku (‘Ota’) Road in the tech-geek wonderland of Den Den Town, Naka isn’t exactly hard to find. There are giant cardboard boxes out front packed with discounted records, while garish electronic signboards advertise the shop as a ‘sound vault’ packed with ‘rare treasures’.
It all feels a bit like a throwback to the days when Den Den Town was still better known for secondhand stores than electronics and cosplayers, and the numbers add up: the first Record Shop Naka opened in the early 1990s, while this incarnation has been in business since 1995.
You’ll find a wide and occasionally unwieldy variety of vinyl here, but the focus is on kayokyoku (Showa-era Japanese pop), enka and domestic rock. Check with the shopkeeper if you’re looking for anything specific; he’s a walking encyclopedia of nostalgic Japanese tunes and well-acquainted with Western music, too.