Those born after the year 2000 may have never actually seen firsthand vinyl and cassette tapes.
But despite never seeing with their own eyes, do you think people are unaware of technologies of the past? Of course that is not the case.
In America, in the indie music scene cassette tapes are experiencing a rebirth. In recent years famous artists, including Justin Bieber and Kanye West are also releasing in these old audio technologies.
In the first floor of what appears to be a converted house is a cassette tape shop. Opened in 2015, the store was started by a former worker of a large international internet company. While working for a decade and a half at a large company he always pursued his hobby of collecting tapes and repairing old stereos. Now he has made it into his full time work. When you chat with him you can really sense his passion for cassettes and old style music. Continuing to pursue more markets he wants to open a webstore in the next year.
“You would be surprised to know that a lot of the customers are young,” he said with a smile across his face. This seems strange at first, but when you think about it, the kids who have never used these items may view them with romanticism because they have never actually touched it with their own hands.
In our current age when you can listen to any music at any time on your smartphone, the feeling of “buying” music has gone by the wayside. In this you are missing the fun of what feels like voting for or cheering for the artists when you buy their physical music in the form of cassettes or vinyl.
Name: Waltz
Address: Tokyo, Shibuya-Ku, Nakameguro ４-１５−５
☎︎ ：03-5734-1017
Hours: 13:00pm～20:00am