Jason Mayall needed help. Gaz, the Cumbia Kid himself. There are thousands of unsold and unsellable records out there, all of them awaiting the big skip in the sky. If only they could be turned into art, they wouldn’t need to be wasted and forgotten! Once at Fuji Rock he had turned abandoned platters into palaces. But to repeat a project like that this year would require funding. Who better to swoop in like a vinyl-winged guardian angel than Naoki Ienaga, president of Dub Store Records.

If you don’t know, Dub Store Records is one of the world’s most respected record vendors, collector’s used and archival reissues both. While the business’s roots lie in reggae, it now deals in a wide variety of genres, operating incredibly well-regarded, curated record shops around Japan and an online shop shipping to the world.

Naoki thought Gaz’s idea was sound, readily agreed to fund, and figured along the way that this project could be a great way to raise vinyl awareness. The structure itself was designed by Gaz, feeling like a licorice ossuary. Walls and pillars made from 33s and 45s, grottoes of abandoned jackets. If records are the best physical embodiment of the music we cherish, this is a place for worship.

But it isn’t just a pilgrimage stop, it also serves to preserve the cult of wax. If you don’t know the first thing about vinyl or DJing, Record City is the best place in the world you could possibly start. Why not take a look through the reams of discarded 45s they have on hand until you find one that catches your eye! Never operated a record player before? No worries, they have retro portable players and proper decks open to try out! Your new life as a DJ could start here!

As Naoki himself said, selling records like these at a place like Fuji Rock just doesn’t seem to fit the culture and the vibe. Instead, if you find a record you like you can take it as a Fuji Rock Souvenir, free of charge. Perhaps it could be the totem that guides you down the long (and admittedly heavy and expensive) road of vinyl collecting and DJing.