About Japanese Vinyl

We've had a few customers ask about the significance of Japanese pressings. 
Japanese pressings are highly regarded, and they look and sound great!

This page outlines why we love Japanese pressings so much!

The Sound

Japanese pressings have very little, if any, surface noise. This is because they use virgin vinyl in the manufacturing process, rather than recycled vinyl like most other countries did.

The records were very well taken care of. It's common for Japanese vinyl to appear spotless, even though it's 40-50 years old.

The Look

Japanese covers are very high quality, the card stock is thick and the print quality is great.

Almost all Japanese pressings were originally issued with an obi, meaning 'belt' or 'sash', which is a strip of paper wrapped around the cover.
At the time they were used for promotional purposes and to simply outline what the album contains, eg. artists name, album name and price. Nowadays, obi's have become sort after for their aesthetics and collectibility.

Japanese albums also often come with extras, like posters and inserts, and some even have bonus tracks or alternate covers. 

Pictured here is the Japanese alternate cover for Kate Bush - The Kick Inside.