Disk Union Shinjuku

Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo


Keeping the dream alive for fans of physical music, Disk Union has eight (cramped) storeys of used CDs and records, including whole floors for genres like '70s prog and '80s new wave. There are a few more branches nearby with even more specific (and obscure) foci, including one exclusively for vinyl; see the map out front.

It's mostly CDs but there's enough vinyl here to entertain crate diggers. For more records, head to the chain's new Union Record Shinjuku around the corner. Disk Union also has major branches in Shibuya, Shimo-Kitazawa (with lots of records) and Jimbōchō, but the scrappy, cramped Shinjuku main branch is a classic.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo attractions

1. Hanazono-jinja

0.22 MILES

Merchants from nearby Kabukichō come to this Shintō shrine to pray for the solvency of their business ventures. Founded in the 17th century, the shrine is…

2. Golden Gai

0.25 MILES

Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a…

3. Godzilla Head

0.32 MILES

Godzilla, a portmanteau of the Japanese words for gorilla (gorira) and whale (kujira), is king of the kaijū (strange beasts) that ruled Japanese popular…

4. Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower

0.39 MILES

This Nishi-Shinjuku landmark building (completed in 2008) is a 50-storey webbed tower designed by Tange Associates. Easily identifiable among the blockier…

5. Shinjuku-gyoen

0.45 MILES

Shinjuku-gyoen was designed as an imperial retreat (completed 1906); since opening to the public in 1951, it has become a favourite destination for…

6. Place M

0.55 MILES

Run by four veteran artists (including pioneering street photographer Daido Moriyama), this gallery serves as a hub for the city's photography scene…

7. Shinjuku I-Land

0.62 MILES

This otherwise ordinary office complex is home to more than a dozen public artworks, including one of Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculptures (on the southeast…

8. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

0.69 MILES

Tokyo's city hall – a landmark building designed by Tange Kenzō – has observatories (202m) atop both the south and north towers of Building 1 (the views…