Nishi-Shinjuku. A jazz collector's living room, three floors up.

Shop: Hal's Record
Address: 17
Town: Tokyo, Japan
Formats: Vinyl
Crates: Jazz
Opening hours: 12:00-20:00

Hal's is on the third floor of an office block five minutes from Shinjuku station, behind a deep blue door that looks more like somebody's flat than a shop - and inside it feels like one, with Duke Ellington on and a bottle of Jack Daniel's about. It is jazz and almost nothing else, aimed at serious collectors: original Blue Notes, a strong seventies free jazz section, a Japanese jazz rack, and an unusually large European jazz selection, most of it imported. Open every day. No founding year is published, so none is claimed here