Tower Records Japan

Tower Records started in California in 1960 and went bankrupt in the US in 2006, but the Japanese branch became independent and is still very much alive. Tower Records Japan is now one of the country’s biggest music retailers, with around 80 physical stores and a huge online shop at tower.jp.

Their catalog is enormous: J-Pop, J-Rock, idol releases, K-Pop, classical, jazz, vinyl, Blu-rays, books, and a lot of original merchandise. They run frequent Tower Records-exclusive collaborations with artists, where you can only get specific bonuses (trading cards, jacket variants, posters, photo cards) by ordering from Tower.

The main reason to know about Tower Records is the exclusive bonuses. The Japanese music industry treats first-press editions and shop-exclusive bonuses as a serious selling point, and Tower Records gets some of the most coveted ones. Examples of what’s typically Tower-only:

• Special jacket variants (different cover art for the Tower edition)
• Exclusive photo cards, often artist-specific
• B2 tapestries and posters
• Live event merchandise tied to Tower’s in-store events
• Idol release bonuses, where Tower often gets the most desirable ones

Beyond bonuses, Tower has a strong second-hand vinyl section in physical stores, but second-hand items are not available for international purchase through their online channels. New items only.

Tower Records Japan does not ship directly to international addresses. The website is Japanese-only, and the standard checkout doesn’t offer overseas shipping at all.

You have a few options:

Option 1: WorldShopping (built-in)

Tower Records has integrated WorldShopping directly into their site. When you visit tower.jp from outside Japan, a "WorldShopping Cart" banner appears automatically, and you click "Add to Cart" via the WorldShopping banner instead of the regular Tower button.

How it works:

1. Browse tower.jp normally (use Google Translate if needed).
2. Click the WorldShopping "Add to Cart" button on items you want.
3. Pay WorldShopping for the items, plus a 10% service fee on the product total.
4. WorldShopping buys the items from Tower on your behalf, receives them at their warehouse, and then sends you a second invoice for international shipping, handling, and any other fees.
5. You pay the second invoice and the package ships to you.

It’s a convenient option because everything is handled inside the same checkout flow. The downside is the 10% on top, plus the international shipping is calculated separately, so you can’t see the total cost until step 4.

Option 2: Use a proxy buying service

If you’re already using Japan Rabbit or another proxy service, you can have them buy from Tower Records on your behalf. The fees depend on the proxy, but for a single Tower Records order Japan Rabbit’s structure is usually competitive with WorldShopping’s 10%, especially for cheaper items where 10% adds up to less than the proxy’s flat fee anyway.

The advantage of using a proxy: you can combine your Tower Records order with purchases from other shops (like Mercari, Yahoo Auctions, or CDJapan) and ship them all together as one international parcel. WorldShopping only handles the Tower side.

Option 3: Forwarding via Blackship

If Tower Records accepted foreign credit cards directly, you could just order yourself with a Blackship Japanese address. In practice, Tower’s checkout often rejects foreign cards, so this only works occasionally. Most German buyers end up on WorldShopping or a proxy instead.

Option 4: CDJapan’s proxy service

If you have a CDJapan account, you can request Tower Records exclusive items through their proxy shopping service. The advantage is that everything ships together with your other CDJapan purchases in one parcel and one invoice. Fee structure is typically 1,200 Yen flat plus 300 Yen per item.

If your order goes through a proxy or forwarder, it travels from Tower to a Japanese warehouse first, which adds a small cost.

• Home delivery within Japan: typically 550 Yen for a regular order via Yamato (the standard Japanese courier).
• Free shipping over 3,000 Yen. This is the threshold most proxy users aim for. If your Tower order is over 3,000 Yen of items, domestic shipping is waived.
• Pre-orders ship after release. If you mix in-stock and pre-order items, Tower will either ship together when everything is ready, or split the shipment (additional fee). Combine items with similar release dates to avoid this.

The 3,000 Yen threshold is low enough that most music orders clear it easily. Two CDs or a single LP usually does it.

If you’re using WorldShopping (the integrated international option), you don’t need a Tower account. WorldShopping handles everything through its own account system.

If you’re using a forwarder like Blackship to ship to a Japanese address yourself, a Tower account is technically optional but useful. You can check out as a guest, but with an account you get:

• Order history and tracking
• Tower Plus membership (the loyalty program), with points and members-only sale prices on certain items
• Pre-order management

Account quirks to watch out for

• Site is Japanese-only. Use Google Translate in your browser, or use Tower’s mobile app which offers slightly better English support in some sections.
• Foreign credit cards are sometimes rejected. Tower’s payment processor often blocks non-Japanese cards. If you’re trying to order through a forwarder and the card is rejected, you’ll need to switch to WorldShopping or a proxy service after all.
• Phone number must be in Japanese format. Use your forwarder’s Japanese phone number, not your home number.
• Tower Plus / Ponta linking. Tower Records uses its own Tower Plus loyalty system, separate from Ponta. You can register without linking either; the points are mostly relevant for domestic shoppers.

A full step-by-step on Tower Records, including which proxy or forwarding setup makes sense for which kind of order, will follow in our upcoming Tower Records ordering guide.

For a typical order with one or two Tower Records exclusive items:

• WorldShopping is easiest if you only want Tower stuff and nothing else. One cart, 10% fee, done.
• CDJapan proxy is best if you’re already ordering other things from CDJapan. Combine in one parcel, save on shipping.
• Japan Rabbit / Blackship is best if you regularly order from many Japanese shops and want one consolidated forwarding workflow.

Through WorldShopping, you pay with credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex), PayPal, or several other international methods. The first invoice is for the items plus the 10% fee, the second is for international shipping plus handling.

Through a proxy or forwarding service, you pay that service’s accepted methods (usually credit card or PayPal), not Tower directly.

Standard rules apply: 19% VAT for Germany, plus the courier’s handling fee on delivery. Neither WorldShopping nor most proxy services prepay VAT under IOSS, so expect to pay it on delivery regardless of order size.

Order from Tower Records when:

• The release has a Tower-exclusive bonus you want (and no equivalent at HMV, Animate, or CDJapan)
• You want a Tower-exclusive jacket variant of a release
• You’re collecting idol items and Tower has the specific photo card or trading card you need

For releases without a Tower-exclusive component, CDJapan is simpler because they ship directly to Germany.