Record Store Day in Kitakyushu, Japan
Two dates to know: Record Store Day Black Friday is Friday, November 29, 2026, and the next main Record Store Day is Saturday, April 17, 2027.
What is Record Store Day?
Record Store Day is an annual event built around independent record stores. The main event traditionally lands on the third Saturday of April each year; Record Store Day Black Friday is traditionally held the day after US Thanksgiving. Both days bring exclusive, limited-run vinyl and CD releases sold only at participating independent shops — not big-box retailers, and not mail order until the in-store exclusives sell through. Because pressings are limited, popular titles can sell out within the first hour, which is why a line-early culture has grown up around the day even at shops that are otherwise quiet on a weekday morning.
Tips for the day
- Arrive early. At busy shops, lines for popular titles can start well before opening.
- Bring cash. A cash line often moves faster than card on a shop's highest-volume day of the year.
- Check each shop's own site or Instagram in the week before the date — participating shops post their own opening time, line policy, and which exclusive titles they've ordered in.
- Release lists are first-come, first-served and vary store to store. A title in stock at one shop may not show up at another, even across town.
- Expect one-per-customer or per-household limits on the most in-demand titles.
- Not every independent record store participates every year, and allocations vary shop to shop — confirm directly with the shop rather than assuming based on a past year.
Shops to check in Kitakyushu, Japan
Independent record shops open in Kitakyushu, Japan right now. We don't yet track which specific shops participate in Record Store Day or what they've ordered in for a given year — check each shop's own site or Instagram close to the date for their exclusive-release list, opening time, and line policy.
- Borderline Records Kokura
Kitakyushu branch of the Border Line Records chain (sister store to the Fukuoka original, founded 1988), a 1-minute walk from Kokura Station's Shinkansen exit. Stocks around 8,000 vinyl records alongside CDs, with rock/pop core and a growing jazz and classical section.
3 sources
- FanFan
Long-running used CD/record/DVD superstore near Honjo Station in Yahatanishi-ku, trading since 1985. Markets itself as one of the largest used-media collections in Kyushu, with roughly 100,000 items in stock across all genres, about half of that vinyl.
2 sources
- LIVING ROOM / Fujimatsu Records
Vintage vinyl and goods shop in a converted house in Moji-ku, opened Dec 2017. Heavy 1960s-70s focus across Japanese and Western vinyl (kayokyoku, rock, jazz, R&B); also buys records/CDs. Closed Sundays and the 2nd/4th Wednesday each month -- check Instagram first.
3 sources
- Odoriba Record
Collaborative record-selling space opened March 2025 inside Kitakyushu Bunka Kaikan, a repurposed cultural building in Kokurakita-ku also housing a vintage clothing shop, curry shop, gallery and design studio. Local dealers and collectors sell stock together under one roof.
2 sources
- record Cafeとむ
Reservation-only record cafe in Kokuraminami-ku run by collector Takashige 'Tom' Muta, where visitors browse and listen to vinyl over coffee. Fully appointment-based (no walk-ins), irregular days off. Also runs a BASE online store for mail-order record sales. Book ahead.
3 sources
See the full record store listing for Kitakyushu, Japan.