Roots Archives Forum

ReGgaeScooby wrote:Interesting piece of fact dubmart, my guess is that the music is now played more and is more demanding in the UK, do you know if now-a-days the same demand exists in JA as it is around the world?

From what I'm led to believe the demand for vinyl both new and old is pretty minimal in Jamaica.

Inyaki you seem to have been confused by another forum, we may have the trainspotters, but the Japanese win hands down for vinyl obsessives.

The japanese might have the cash...but the UK has the knowledge, the history and the trainspotters!

If i had the money there is a heap of Reggae in Japan that i would love to get my hands on sadly for me the prices are just to prohibative to warrent spending the large amounts the Japanese record stores want for their product. But where i am that goes for most imports not cheap to get at bottom end of the world.

Karl NZ wrote:If i had the money there is a heap of Reggae in Japan that i would love to get my hands on sadly for me the prices are just to prohibative to warrent spending the large amounts the Japanese record stores want for their product. But where i am that goes for most imports not cheap to get at bottom end of the world.

Why is it that in Japan they can get round all the red tape beaurocracy and produce some superb reggae reissues yet by comparison here in the uk (which has through the last 40+ years had much closer links to the reaggae community) we struggle to put out anywhere near the same quality reissue programs.

This isn`t just confined to Reggae but I have also found that the better Jazz and early Funk and Soul reissues too have primarily come out of Japan.

I can only assume that the passion and love for the music in Japan has dictated the quality and selection of music as I cannot see it being based on just technology.

Yes, Japan reissues good material stuff. But they also kill the living whales & tunas for sushi to a point they'll be soon gone.

I prefer we have less great reissues, and more naturality

why has the japaneese taken over the reggae distribution even from the U.K. how was it done then? some one help?

the japanees only started to listen to reggae recently if i am correct?

anyone help

Hey Jah_Vaults,
Reggae has been in Japan as long as Reggae has been exported from Jamaica. But it Flowered in the 1980's with a Ska explosion that spread through the islands like a fire much like it did with the Roots Reggae in New Zealand in the late Seventies early eighties.
But i am guessing because of the higher standard of living and the money that comes with that, that it has made it an ideal place to sell Reggae as the demand is high and people can afford to pay the high prices that most of the dealers want for their product.
From what i have read lately its mostly dancehall style that the Japanese really get into but looking at the shops and re release labels they are spoilt for choice lucky sods that they are.
As you can tell i am most envious but at the same time i am very happy that Reggae is doing well and staying alive in the hearts and minds of a country that is now leading the world for sales in our genre.

i heard a rumour that the japaneese bought all the stock piles of old records in jamaica this is why they are spoilt for choice..

anyone else know about this?

A friend of mine walked into Augustus Pablo's shop a good few years back and noticed that all the prices had doubled overnight. When he asked why he was told " The Japanese are coming!"

I lived in Japan, and here is what I experienced: The Japanese are very materialistic people. This is not a bad thing per say. They are very sensitive to "things well done". This includes packaging, which is extermely well designed (but also over designed: they pack single apples, oranges etc.) There is not much space you see in Japan, so they are very focused on "stuff" (vs. nature say). Especially when stuff is easy to manage inside small apartments. And once they get into a category, be it sneakers, music, apparel, they go crazy: they "collect" like no one else, and are perfectionists. They are more knowledge about graphics than "us". Reggae has been grasped by the Japanese, and, hence, they have been massive at giving the genre the Japanese treatment, be it purchasing vintage original stuff (from radios, from Jamaica, from UK etc.), or re issuing records and memorabilia. One more thing to note: they are materialist, remember? So, they really take care of stuff. It is likely that best well kept records from any style are to be found in Japan. They will pay VERY high prices when, once in a while, pops up a vintage record which is in Mint condition. They like "the best".