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Dutch Vinyl – Online Record Store Australia

Japanese Vinyl Record Pressings

Vinyl records made in Japan are known for the quality of both sound and packaging. The Japanese seem to also take much better care of their LPs so most second-hand Japanese vinyl records are in near mint condition.

Is Japanese vinyl better?

From the 60's onwards Japanese records improved in quality as companies started to use virgin vinyl and high quality materials for the covers. Beside this record companies started paying particular attention to the the pressing and mastering processes with the aim of producing the best sounding records.

By the 80's Japanese vinyl records were being sold worldwide to quality conscious and audiophile record collectors. Around the same time American record companies were producing records of much lower quality due to the use of recycled vinyl and worn out stampers.

Why collectors buy Japanese vinyl?

Collectors are mostly attracted to Japanese vinyl for their good sound and high quality covers.

Different covers

Many Japanese records produced in the 60's and 70's had covers that differed from UK and US pressings.

The obi

The obi is a paper strips of about 5-6 cm wide that (mostly) vertically wraps around the left hand side of the record cover. Sometimes the obi slots over the top of the record cover.

The obi was used to convey in Japanese what was written in mostly English on the record cover. The obi strip on second hand records are often missing as they are fragile and this easily tear. The inclusion of an obi usually results in a higher price.