Hirosaki record shop "JOY-POPS" (Dotemachi, Hirosaki City) will resume operations on March 21st for the first time in 14 years.

Joypops closed on January 8, 2007 (Heisei 19). The store owner, Hirosaki Saito, nicknamed "Hirosaki's Music Bancho," sells records, CDs, and DVDs collected from the 4th grade of elementary school.

Mr. Saito served as the manager of the Hirosaki store of the record store "Takamura Records", which had its head office in Aomori, and became independent in 1988 (Showa 63) and launched Joypops. Mr. Saito, whose belief is "don't lie to music," had people who bought music not only from locals but also from Tokyo, and also had a wide range of exchanges with local bands and famous artists.

In the 2000s, sales of CDs declined, and even customer service was no longer required. "With the advancement of digitalization, we are now in an era where music can be found by searching. There are no more customers looking for music in the store, and fewer customers buy CDs until they come to the store," says Saito. He continued his musical activities in other ways, such as closing the store, running a music bar, appearing on the radio, and holding music festivals.

The total number of collections that sleep in homes and warehouses is said to reach more than 10,000. Saito smiles, "I'm 65 years old now. I wanted to reduce my luggage because of my life. I hope it can be delivered to people who understand the value."

The place to resume business is the 3rd floor of the live house "KEEP THE BEAT" that opened last year. The store is also a former business location, and it is said that it has a connection with becoming a live house. It took half a year to prepare, and I carried CDs and records little by little and set them up. The store will have a flag that was used at the time of business, and will be equipped with autographed records and viewers. The record-sized plastic shopping bag uses the one from that time.

Mr. Saito said, "Because subscriptions have been added to the way music is enjoyed, I feel that it is now necessary to ask the staff for recommendations and search for records in the store. Communicating music is something I haven't done yet, and I'll continue until I'm 70. "

Business hours are Friday, Saturday and Sunday = 12:00 to 18:00.