https://www.diskunionusa.net/post/onban-domei-gives-you-some-insight-of-japanese-music-culture
Here's the second English translation of our free booklet "Onban Domei"
Translation for page 4 - 5 this time,
"The Diskunion Buyer is coming! Music Collection Tour"
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Our Diskunion staff will visit the home of a collector who cannot stop loving “items” related to the music including CDs and vinyl
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Today, we visited the home of Mr. YS who has been collecting Diskunion’ s privilege boxes for many years. He lives in Tokyo. While running a music label, he is an avid collector who is consumed with collecting boxes of deluxe editions and original vinyl in addition to papersleeves.
Before entering to the room, we saw enormous cardboard boxes through the window from outside …..
YS: The first papersleeve with the privilege box I bought was King Crimson. It was the papersleeve edition of the first album which was released by Pony Canyon in 2001, the box was like a lunch box. Since then, I have been buying new ones every time when a papersleeve with a privilege box is released.
Regarding the miniature replication of the original vinyl, the first one was the papersleeve of the Who in 1999, and I was very surprised. The first album, “My Generation”, was released later, and the Japanese version sleeve was also released. (Diskunion made the first Japanese version OBI of “The Who” and the papersleeve when it was released on CD, and then later it was released officially.)
It’s been more than 20 years since he started collecting. The first privilege box has been started from the papersleeve of Yes in 1998. He has been collecting the history through privilege boxes for papersleeves.
Entering the room, it was shocking see so many privilege boxes in one place.
He continued the pattern of buying a box set and before he is finished with that set, he moves on and buys another. It is the happy vicious circle into which every CD and vinyl collectors fall. The collection is stored on kitchen shelves and other inconspicuous places throughout the house because there is no more space.
YS: In fact, there are quite a bit of Hard Rock and Progressive Rock albums that I have already sold, but I still have at home more than 500 sets at least.
● To satisfy your own desire to hear great sound, you must have the physical product.
While showing us his overwhelming collection, he told us many stories about the papersleeve.
YS: We like miniatures because they are reproduction of the original vinyl. People who like plastic models may have the same feeling. We can also buy in bulk, so we can collect many at one time. If it were a limited papersleeve with a special box, that is even better. It is also important to satisfy our own desire to hear great sound. I like to hear unreleased songs, so I will definitely buy it if it is a deluxe edition with unreleased songs. There may be songs that we can listen to with an online subscription, but I feel uneasy because the album may disappear from the service. It is important to own the physical product.
I really like a Big Box. The first box set I remember is Brian Auger which was released in 2004. I bought it when the Progressive Rock House (Diskunion Shinjuku Progressive Rock House) was in another location. The Big Box was designed where 4 privilege boxes can be stored. I remember the staff’s confused reaction of why I needed a large box to store other boxes. For that type, Van Der Graaf Generator is good, and I also like Camel.
YS: Recent Big Box include, Hall & Oats reproduced in paper sleeves (14 titles/2011), Cheap Trick (12 titles/2017), Canned Heat (10 titles/2017), 38 Special (10 titles/2017) and Atlanta Rhythm Section (10 titles/2018). I like the box that includes more than 10 titles. They’re awesome and they make me feel like I own the original sound, but it’s hard to listen to all of them. (lol)
Looking at his collections, there are so many rare items with special designs seemed endless.
YS: I really like the design of the storage box of Genesis’ paper sleeves which were released with DVD-Audio from 2007 to 2009. I am very pleased with this one. It is divided into 4 time periods by 4 different colors: green, blue, red, and grey. It makes it look like a complete series.
For example, there is the storage box of Bob Marley’s first papersleeves which was released in 2006. The box which reproduced the shape of the Zippo, which photo was printed on the original vinyl sleeve of his debut album, “Catch A Fire” (on top of that, he has the privilege box for 11 titles of papersleeves for the SHM-CD released in 2010! Incredible!), the box which reproduced Todd Rundgren’s Japanese version vinyl sleeve of “Something Anything” which was released in 2012 on K2HD+HQCD, the special box showing in the ingenious way the sleeve of Brian Eno’s “Another Green World” which was released on SHM-CD in 2013 and so on …. This is an amazing collection. Within this collection, there is also a legendary papersleeves box set of “It’s a Beautiful Day”!
● Fusion in the morning, Balearic at night
Besides the papersleeve box, the topic expanded. His passion for collecting comes from his vast knowledge, which nurtured his love for various musical genres.
YS: The first Rock bands I liked were T. Rex and Deep Purple. I listened to Punk during it’s heyday. I watched Eric Clapton’s first Budokan concert in my junior high school day. I like the Rolling Stones of their Stones Record label period. I was hooked on Jackson Brown and Jennifer Warnes after I came to know the West Coast sound from the magazine, POPEYE. Also, I liked Music Magazine in the 1970’s, and from that I came to be a fan of Salsa, World Music, Reggae, Blues, etc. I watched Jimmy Cliff live in Japan. In the 1980’s, AOR, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Frampton, etc. came out. After listening to them, I often went to the disco.
I was also searching for trends, and I had a good internal radar for music listening. By the way, now I often listen to Earl Klugh in the morning and Balearic at night. (lol) But, I have always liked Yardbirds and that has never changed.
We were unable to introduce his entire collection due to its massive size. It is exactly the gorgeous Ryu-gu Castle of disks. Perhaps there are more disks here than we have in our stores?
YS: While preparing for this interview, I found so many items that I had forgotten I owned. Maybe that’s why I can’t stop collecting.
There is no hiding his desire of collecting! I will continue to operate our store so we can meet Mr. YS’s passion for “music”!