HMV Japan

HMV is one of Japan’s biggest music and entertainment retailers, with both physical stores across Japan and a large online shop at hmv.co.jp. The catalog covers everything from J-Pop and J-Rock to K-Pop, anime soundtracks, vinyl, Blu-rays and books. They’re especially known for HMV-exclusive bonuses that come with new releases, things like exclusive trading cards, posters, photobooks, or jacket variants you can’t get from any other shop.

The site has a proper English version, which is rare among Japanese retailers and makes browsing much easier than translating Tower Records or Disc Union with a browser plugin. Prices are in Yen, the catalog matches the Japanese site, and you can order with a foreign credit card.

A few things that make HMV worth your attention:

• HMV-exclusive bonuses. If you see a release with an HMV bonus you want, no other shop can get it for you. CDJapan can’t substitute. You either order from HMV or you don’t get the bonus.
• Strong vinyl section. The dedicated HMV Record Shop handles new and used vinyl, often with reissues and Japan-only pressings that are hard to find elsewhere.
• Bilingual customer service. Compared to most Japanese shops, HMV is much easier to deal with if something goes wrong with an order.

This is the catch, and it’s a big one for European buyers.

HMV Japan ships internationally only via EMS (Japan Post’s express service). They don’t offer DHL, FedEx or any other carrier as an alternative.

EMS to Germany is currently not available. Japan Post and Deutsche Post can’t share the required tracking data right now, so EMS parcels can’t be sent to German addresses. Several other EU countries are affected by similar issues at different times.

That means: if you live in Germany, you cannot order from HMV directly. The website will accept your order but the shipping options will be empty or rejected at checkout.

Workaround: use a proxy or forwarding service

The solution is to route your HMV order through a service with a Japanese address:

• Blackship (forwarding). You get your own Japanese address, place the HMV order yourself with your own card, and Blackship forwards the package to Germany via DHL or FedEx. Cheapest option if HMV accepts your card directly.
• Japan Rabbit (proxy buying). They place the HMV order on your behalf and ship it on. Useful if HMV ever rejects your foreign card, or if you want one invoice for everything in USD.
• CDJapan’s proxy service. If you’re already ordering from CDJapan, you can request HMV-exclusive items through their proxy shopping service and have everything shipped together in one CDJapan parcel.

For HMV-exclusive bonuses specifically, all three options work. Pick whichever fits the rest of your order.

If you’re using a forwarding or proxy service, the package first has to get from HMV to a Japanese warehouse, and that costs money too. Worth knowing what to expect.

• Home delivery within Japan: 330 Yen flat. Same fee for any order, anywhere in Japan, no minimum.
• Convenience store pickup: free. HMV lets domestic customers pick up their order at a convenience store at no shipping cost. This option is not useful for forwarders, since the package needs to go to a real address, but it’s good to know if anyone in your network is in Japan.
• Two-shipment orders: if you mix in-stock and pre-order items, HMV charges 330 Yen per shipment. Worth combining items with similar release dates to avoid paying twice.

So a typical proxy order will have the 330 Yen domestic shipping cost added on top of the item price before international shipping is calculated.

For one-off orders through a proxy, no. The proxy creates the account or orders as a guest on your behalf. But if you’re ordering directly through a forwarder like Blackship, creating an HMV account is worth it for two reasons:

• Order tracking and pre-order management. You can see your order status, change the shipping address up to a point, and cancel pre-orders before they ship. Guest checkouts can’t do any of that.
• Ponta points. HMV’s loyalty system is tied into Ponta, one of Japan’s biggest reward programs. You earn 1 point per 100 Yen spent. Note that Ponta points are mostly useful for domestic Japanese customers (you can spend them at HMV, but also at Lawson, KFC and other Ponta partners in Japan). For international buyers, the value is limited but the points still apply as discount on your next HMV order.

Account quirks to watch out for

A few things that catch new HMV account holders off guard:

• Phone number is required. HMV’s signup form asks for a Japanese phone number format. If you’re using a forwarder, use the forwarder’s Japanese phone number (Blackship and others provide one in your account dashboard). Don’t put your German number in the Japanese format field, the order may reject.
• Address has to match the Japanese format. Postal code, prefecture, city, ward, building number, in that order. Forwarders usually give you a copy-paste-ready address block; use it exactly.
• Don’t enable Ponta linking with a non-Japanese Ponta card. Just skip that step during signup; you can register without it.

A full step-by-step on creating the account, linking a forwarder address, and placing your first order will be in our upcoming HMV ordering guide.

HMV Japan accepts:

• Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB
• PayPal
• Bank transfer (mostly relevant for domestic Japanese customers)
• Convenience store payment (Japan-only)

The site charges in Yen. Your card or PayPal converts to Euro at your bank’s rate.

If you’re using a forwarding service like Blackship, you’ll pay HMV directly with your own card. If you’re using a proxy like Japan Rabbit or CDJapan’s proxy, the payment goes through them and HMV doesn’t see your card at all.

HMV doesn’t collect EU VAT in advance. They aren’t registered for IOSS the way CDJapan is, so for any order delivered to Germany you’ll always pay VAT and a courier handling fee on delivery, regardless of order size.

If you’re routing through a forwarder or proxy, the same applies: 19% German VAT plus the courier’s clearance fee (around 6 Euro for DHL).

Use HMV specifically when:

• The release has an HMV-exclusive bonus you want
• You’re looking for vinyl that’s listed at the HMV Record Shop and not on other retailers
• You want the bilingual customer service for a complicated order

For everything else, CDJapan ships directly to Germany without needing a proxy and is the simpler choice.