Whether you’re passionate about video games, anime, food or music, Japan is the perfect place to travel to for unique experiences. With so much to do and explore it was almost impossible to do everything I wanted to do within my 15 day trip. But I did manage to properly tour the country as a music fan. Here’s a peek into some of my experiences as a music lover exploring Japan.

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Attending a Concert in Osaka

I highly recommend attending concerts while in Japan. I went to see Plastic Tree, a popular Japanese Vkei band. Japan has a lot to offer on the music scene including Vkei, J-pop and J-rock. I encourage all music fans to try diving into these music genres and experience them live. You might discover highly talented musicians you’d never heard of or never be able to see in North America.

Concert etiquette is very different than it is in the western world so remember to do your research. You are not allowed to film and photograph most concerts in japan, forcing you to fully be present and experience live music without looking through a phone camera. This was one of the main cultural differences which made the concert experience in Japan so wonderfully unique.

Visiting Fender Flagship Tokyo

As a hobby guitarist, I was especially excited to visit the Fender Flagship Store. The basement includes a cafe as well as acoustic instruments. The first  floor displays new arrivals and exclusive guitar series as well as exclusive merchandise.The second floor resembles a more traditional guitar shop, with electric guitars, bases and amps for you to shop for and try out. But the third floor was the most fascinating. The third floor is where you’ll find displays of famous and invaluable pieces as well as the custom shop experience.

The store itself is visually stunning, with its decorated walls and rare guitar models. I spent hours spotting famous artist signatures and trying out various guitars I’d never have the chance to play back home.

Sipping Coffee at the Yamaha Sound Crossing Shibuya

This Store also functions as a live music space and a cafe. I only managed to fit it quickly into my itinerary and sipped coffee after trying out various high end instruments and audio equipment. Unfortunately I was not able to stay for any live shows, but still thoroughly appreciated this gathering space for musicians for the limited time I had. 

The shop proved to be a wonderful place to simply socialize with other music lovers. Staff and tourists alike were all eager to try the audio equipment together and chat about their shared hobbies and interests.

Shopping at Tower Records

Located right near Shibuya Crossing, Tower Records offers 9 floors of CDs, Vinyls and merch. You’ill find some hidden gems that are not as easy to come by in the west, especially if you’re a fan of japanese artists and japanese anime or video game soundtracks. 

The shop has a tax free counter for tourists carrying foreign passports, so it was definitely worth doing a vinyl and CD haul to bring home. They also have a huge selection of used CD’s and Vinyls.

Experiencing a Vinyl Record Cafe

One of the best ways to relax after long days of shopping in Tokyo was visiting Recoco Cafe. This Cafe allows you to privately listen to vinyl records while enjoying a coffee and some food. Although the cafe can get crowded, they have a 90 minute time limit per table, which means you’ll likely be able to get in without a reservation.

They had a large vinyl selection that included many western media classics such as Frank Ocean, Taylor Swift, Radiohead, Sza etc… The 90 minutes flew by fast but It was worth relaxing alongside the unique sound of vinyl record music, especially after a week of constant exploring and shopping throughout Tokyo.