Record Store Day in Niigata, 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 Niigata, Japan
Independent record shops open in Niigata, 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.
- Bullet
Niche used-record specialist in Chuo-ku focused on old rock and progressive/psychedelic rock, with a notably deep selection of rare Asian pressings (India, China, Korea) alongside European and US prog/psych. Also runs mail-order sales.
3 sources
- Earl Stock
Used CD, DVD, video and record shop in western Niigata City near Terao Station, primarily secondhand stock.
3 sources
- KING KONG Niigata
Large used record, CD and DVD store (100,000+ items) in Furumachi, Chuo-ku — vinyl on the ground floor, CDs/DVDs on the 2nd. A longtime Niigata institution that relocated from the old West Hori Rosa underground mall to Furumachi Mall 6 in March 2025.
4 sources
- LOWYARD RECORDS
Imported new-vinyl specialist in central Niigata, opened December 2022, carrying rock, soul, dance, jazz and rap alongside cassettes, CDs and branded merch. Shares a building with dAb Coffee Store, next to a 7-Eleven.
4 sources
- Mano Ryobando (真野良盤堂)
Used record shop in Chuo-ku with an eclectic stock spanning jazz, club, experimental/avant-garde, classical, synth, Japanese releases and soul/funk/disco, including obscure titles. Two on-site parking spaces.
2 sources
- Shabby Sic poetry.
Small shop off Higashihori-dori in Chuo-ku selling records, CDs, goods and salt lamps, centered on underground/independent labels and soulful/experimental hip-hop, R&B and ambient. Open irregularly, roughly one day a week.
3 sources
- SHE Ye,Ye Records
Used record shop in Chuo-ku trading since around 2009, specializing in rock, jazz and singer-songwriter titles with a reputation for rare and hard-to-find pressings spanning world and experimental music. Relocated to its current Higashibori address in April 2021.
2 sources
- Tower Records Niigata
Regular Tower Records branch on the 2nd floor of Aeon Mall Niigata Kameda Interchange.
2 sources
See the full record store listing for Niigata, Japan.