Record Store Day in Saitama, 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 Saitama, Japan
Independent record shops open in Saitama, 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.
- CMJ Records
Vintage-audio specialist in Kita-ku that repairs and sells turntables and amplifiers alongside buying and selling used vinyl records; closed Tuesdays.
2 sources
- Disk Union Omiya
Disk Union chain branch 4 minutes from Omiya Station's east exit, stocking over 40,000 new and used CDs and records.
1 source
- Disk Union Urawa
Disk Union's Urawa branch, relocated into Urawa PARCO's 4th floor in April 2025 (replacing the former Kita-Urawa store), 1 minute from Urawa Station with roughly 50,000 items across CD/vinyl/DVD/Blu-ray.
2 sources
- HMV大宮アルシェ
HMV branch on the 5th floor of Omiya Arche, opposite JR Omiya Station's west exit -- an official Record Store Day Japan participating store; also buys and sells CDs, videos, records, books and games.
2 sources
- Record Shop GRIS-GRIS (レコード屋グリグリ)
Used record and CD shop in Omiya-ku, 5 minutes from Omiya Station's east exit, trading since 1993 and specializing in used vinyl across J-pop, rock, R&B, jazz and classical; closed Wednesdays.
2 sources
- Tower Records Urawa
Tower Records' Urawa store in Urawa PARCO's 4th floor; unlike most suburban Tower branches it stocks real in-store vinyl, with LP, 12-inch, 10-inch and 7-inch records as searchable in-store categories alongside roughly 40,000 items total.
1 source
See the full record store listing for Saitama, Japan.