Record Store Day in Sapporo, 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 Sapporo, Japan
Independent record shops open in Sapporo, 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.
- Beat Records
Used vinyl specialist in a basement space off Minami 2-jo in Sapporo's Chuo ward, focused on jazz, soul, funk/disco and classic rock with a steadily rotating secondhand stock.
2 sources
- Face Records Sapporo
Face Records' first Hokkaido location, opened March 2023 on the 4th floor of Sapporo Stellar Place by JR Sapporo Station. Part of a nationwide used-vinyl chain, with new releases and a purchase counter.
2 sources
- FreshAir
Used CD and record buy/sell specialist a five-minute walk from both Odori and Susukino stations in central Sapporo, trading since 1993 with on-site appraisal and an outcall buying service.
2 sources
- HMV札幌ステラプレイス
HMV branch directly connected to Sapporo Station on the 4th floor of JR Tower Sapporo Stellar Place East -- a November 2025 renewal added an independent record corner with new and used vinyl plus turntables and other record-related accessories.
2 sources
- King Kong Sapporo
Used record, CD and DVD shop a minute's walk from Susukino Station in Sapporo's Chuo ward, part of the King Kong chain with a secondhand stock leaning hip-hop/R&B, punk and club/dance.
2 sources
- Page One
Secondhand record shop in Toyohira ward near Hiraishi Station on the Namboku Line, trading from its own storefront alongside Yahoo Auctions and Amazon Japan marketplace listings.
2 sources
- Tower Records Ario Sapporo
Regular Tower Records branch on the 3rd floor of the Ario Sapporo mall in Higashi-ku.
1 source
- Tower Records Sapporo Parco
Regular Tower Records branch on the 7th floor of Sapporo Parco, connected to Odori subway station.
1 source
See the full record store listing for Sapporo, Japan.