Tacto CD Shop

In the past few years, there has been a remastering boom of old CDs such as ones for early Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）, EPO, Junko Ohashi（大橋純子） and others, so that the few big chains that are still left in Tokyo like Tower Records and Yamano Music have been able to sell these new-and-improved versions of old kayo kyoku albums, often with extra songs and detailed liner notes.

But there are a few CD stores still left in Tokyo which specialize in the oldies but goodies. One that I used to frequent was Tacto（タクト） in Jimbocho（神保町） which is the bookstore area of the metropolis next to Kanda（神田）. It's a narrow 2-floor store that I often stopped by on a Sunday or during the weekdays if I had some time between lessons. Tacto buys and sells kayo kyoku CDs and CD singles, a lot of which can't be found in the big chains. I managed to find rarities like Yasuhiro Abe's（安部恭弘） "SLIT"which contains the single "Irene"(already covered) and a couple of Ruiko Kurahashi （倉橋ルイ子）discs along with the best of Hitomi Tohyama（当山ひとみ）. There is even a section which focuses on the aidoru of the day, so all you Eri Niita or Minayo Watanabe fans could be in luck. On the second floor, the overflow of kayo kyoku discs go up there but the floor also has a section on European music.

Pricewise, it depends on the condition of the individual discs which are graded from A to C, but even with the C-grade discs, any damage is usually limited to a cracked case or stained booklet. I found that the majority of the albums are under the usual price of 3,000 yen for domestic Japanese discs at Towers (anything from 1,200 to 2,500 yen). The rare ones can skyrocket, of course. The Hitomi Tohyama 2-CD Best Pack cost me 5,000 yen, and I did come across an album by Mai Yamane which went for close to 7,800 yen!

There is a small section by the sliding door which sells the contemporary stuff like AKB 48 and Arashi, but all of the customers I've seen in Tacto have much more grey in their hair than I do, so I think they and I are probably going to focus more on the 60s-80s era.

Now, as to get there, the closest subway station is Jimbocho Station which has three lines going through it: 1 Tokyo Metro line (the purple Hanzomon Line) and 2 Toei lines (Shinjuku and Mita Lines). The subway system in the world's largest metropolis is also the world's largest ant farm, so you'll have to go up a few escalators or elevators, especially if you're coming up from the Hanzomon. Head for Exit A4 and once you get outside, you'll see the main street of Hakusan Doori（白山通り）, just turn left and head straight for about 2 minutes. Watch for that signboard! It opens from 11 a.m. There is a map on the website. When you hit the main page, just scroll down to the bottom and look at the end of the second address line where the kanji （地図）is located and hit it.

Just to let you know, Tacto DOESN'T do international deliveries, but you've got Amazon.jp and the other online services of course. This is for the kayo kyoku fans out there in the world who may decide to drop in on Tokyo and want to do their own searching for any gems. Besides the Jimbocho-Kanda area is a great place for browsing!