Comment from trevor (i dunno punk zine) Re "japanese ska"

ok... i'm dying for japanese punk and ska and was wondering if you knew of some good american sources for finding them.... the bands i already have stuff by is listed below.... i have maybe 30 cds but would really like a source for more

I replied:

I didn't see your list of bands, so I might tell you some things you already know. In fact, if you already have 30 cds of Japanese punk and ska, then you're way ahead of me.
The only American source I have is this Moon Records compilation "Nihon Ska Dansu (Land of the Rising Ska)" and some Rude Bones tracks on this Beach Recordings compilation "Saturday Matinee (Skank for Brains)".
I've found CDs by pop-punk band The Blue Hearts at Tower Records (San Francisco, North Beach) and (used) at Amoeba Records (San Francisco). These were tragically isolated incidents.
Tower Records of Japan http://www.towerrecords.co.jp/ says they do international internet ordering, but I haven't tried it. (Editor's note: I have tried it since; it was fine; it's okay if you don't know Japanese. I've also used amazon.co.jp, and it was really good. (In late 2002, depending on which artist I searched on, either Tower or Amazon seemed to have the most selection available. So try 'em both, I guess.)) It looks like you give them credit card information, and then email requests to them.
If your list includes any tracks by the Japanese punk bands "Aggressive Dog" or "Bandit", bands active back in 1991 or so, I'd sure like to know about it.
Good luck.

trevor then replied:

that covers most of what i own and all of it i'd recommend.... it's all reasonably priced and good stuff.... also, there are some stores that'll import some japanese punk/ska at exorbitant prices with little variety.... i haven't done that yet but it looks like my next step....sigh

Comment from trevor (i dunno punk zine) 2000 Sep 19