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Here you'll find answers to what you may be wondering about, and also some information about using this Web site. If you have any question not listed here, please email recohan@tokyorecohan.com and you'll be answered promptly.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
General
Ordering
Glossary
Customer comments
GENERAL QUESTIONS
Q. What's recohan?
A. Recohan is a contraction of "record hunting" in Japanese. It is a term mostly used by online diarists who keep a list of all CDs or records they buy.
Even though not an official word, a search for "recohan" in katakana (Google Japan search link) will reveal a countless number of these diaries.
Q. Is this item that I see on the Web site really in stock?
A. If the item is there on the site with a photo, yes it's in stock and ready to ship! Please place your order quickly using the shopping cart, as this will reserve the item for you. Here it's "first come first served". Our stock is always up-to-date.
Q. An item I really wanted is already sold! What can I do?
A. Please email and let us know, and the next copy found will be yours!
Q. Do you offer service in languages other than English?
A. Yes! We speak English, French and Japanese! Feel free to email us in either of these languages!
Nous offrons du service en français! Visitez notre site en français.
Q. What is a RSS feed? How to use it?
A. A RSS feed is an XML document containing the latest information about a Web site. Using a RSS feed reader —such as Feedly— can inform you quickly when a site's data is updated.
Tokyo Recohan's Recent Additions feed contains the list of recent additions as seen on the home page. The URL is https://www.tokyorecohan.com/recent.rss. RSS feeds can also be found on each artist page.
Q. What are Tokyo Recohan's romanization rules?
A. Romanization (Wikipedia) is the process of writing Japanese words in our Roman (Latin) alphabet. At Tokyo Recohan, all artist names and titles are romanized, and we generally use the following rules.
- non-Japanese katakana words all UPPERCASE
- non-Japanese words already in romaji (alphabet) are Capitalized
- Japanese words are in lowercase, romanized using Hepburn romanization with kana spelling variation
- Japanese people names in natural Japanese order, family name UPPERCASE, given name Capitalized *
- Japanese place names Capitalized and use the popular romanization when any (e.g. Tokyo, not Toukyou)
* Usually the artist's preferred romanization is respected when consistant. When the artist's name is in reversed order even in Japanese, this order is generally respected.
When titles are already in a non-Japanese language, we will sometimes keep the original capitalization, but overuse of uppercase or lowercase is usually removed.
For compilations, we use the Artist "Title" format to avoid the confusion of using a slash ("/") or dash ("-").
Subtitles (e.g. a remix name) are placed within parentheses for consistency.
ORDERING
Q. Is it secure to place an order on this Web site?
A. Yes! When you place an order on Tokyo Recohan, your payment is handled automatically by PayPal using your credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express). Your credit card information is not sent to us or seen by us, it is entered in your PayPal account using 128-bit SSL encryption (the highest level commercially available). This operation is completely secure. It is not necessary to create a PayPal account.
The only information you provide Tokyo Recohan is your full name, your email address and your mailing address. Once your PayPal payment is completed, your package will be sent within 48 hours, and you should then receive it within 1-2 weeks (depending on your location) when using air mail.
For more information about the security policies used by PayPal, please visit PayPal's Security Center. Please also feel free to contact us at recohan@tokyorecohan.com if you are left with unanswered questions.
Q. Do you accept payment by methods other than PayPal/credit card?
A. PayPal/credit card is the easiest and quickest way to make your payment, and is completely secure.
That said, if you do not have one of the accepted credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express), if you are in a country to which PayPal doesn't yet offer membership, or if you simply prefer not to use PayPal, we may be able to accept an international postal money order depending on your country. Some countries' international postal money orders cannot be exchanged in Japan, so, unless your country is listed below, you must verify with your post office first, before even placing your order with us.
When you wish to pay for an order by international postal money order, or if you want to suggest another payment method (other than PayPal/credit card), you must confirm by emailing recohan@tokyorecohan.com before placing your order, except for the countries listed below.
Payment methods that we do not accept, no matter what: cash (even in registered mail), international bank wire transfer, personal check or bank-issued money order, Western Union, Moneybookers.com.
To clients in the United States: You can pay by sending an International Postal Money Order, available at your post office for $3.45 (as of February 2007). Ask for details in the "Comments" field when placing your order and you will be sent detailed information. Be careful not to send a Domestic Money Order, since these can only be changed within the United States. More information at the United States Postal Service's Web site.
To clients in Italy: You can pay by sending an EuroGiro, available at your post office for 3.36€ (as of February 2007). Ask for details in the "Comments" field when placing your order and you will be sent detailed information. More information at Poste Italiane's Web site.
To clients in Japan: You can pay by bank transfer (to a Shinsei bank or Mizuho bank account) or by postal giro transfer. Ask for details in the "Comments" field when placing your order and you will be sent detailed information.
To clients in Canada: Unfortunately, we cannot accept Canadian money orders.
Please note that we also sell on GEMM, though our prices there are 15% higher to cover their processing fees.
Q. What are the shipping options?
A. International orders can be shipped either by standard air mail, registered air mail, or EMS (international registered express, trackable mail). The fee for registered mail is of ¥410. EMS can be much more expensive than air mail, depending on weight and your location (e.g. at least ¥1100 extra for some Asian countries, and at least ¥3150 extra for U.S.).
We generally recommend using standard air mail for small orders. However, if you are ordering over 5-6 CDs or for a value of over ¥5000, or if you live in a country where it is common for mail to get lost or stolen, we strongly recommend that you choose registered air mail or EMS. The choice is however left to you, but we cannot be liable if a package is lost.
Please note that air mail tends to be rather fast for most destinations (usually less than 2 weeks for any destination, sometimes one week or even less), so express will not necessarily make your package arrive much faster.
Japanese orders are shipped via regular Japan Post mail. If you would like your package to be shipped using a different method (Yu-Pack (faster, schedulable delivery), C.O.D. (daibiki), etc.) please inquire when placing your order.
To clients in Spain: Because of lost packages sent via regular air mail, we strongly recommend to choose registered air mail or EMS for your orders. Spain's postal service refuses requests to search for lost shipments. Thank you for your understanding.
Q. Some online stores in Japan seem to charge too much for shipping! How much is shipping here?
A. Here, you pay for the envelope and the stamps, it's that simple! The shipping charge you pay depends on the weight of the CDs you buy, not on the number of CDs like most online stores do. Our shipping rates are Japan Post Service's air mail small packet rates. You can look them up here.
These are some sample approximate rates to countries in North America (except United States)/Europe/Middle East/Oceania: 1 CD (up to 150g) - ¥600, 2 CDs (up to 250g) - ¥720, etc.
Packaging (stuffed envelope or box) is ¥60 for up to 4 standard sized CDs, otherwise ¥100 unless you'd buy really a lot, then your order may have to be split into several packages.
GLOSSARY
- 3" single
- This is a 3" CD single. These exist almost only on the Japanese market. They usually contain the title song plus a karaoke (instrumental) version, and sometimes one or two extra songs.
Lately in Japan, 3" singles are being replaced by "maxi singles" (normal-sized CDs with extra songs and remixes). The 3" CD single format was very popular in the 80's and 90's.
A 3" CD should play in any compliant CD player with a tray (on which you place the CD yourself) like most stereos, portable CD players and computers. However they should not be inserted in CD players which load the CD automatically (like car CD players) without using an special adaptor.
- maxi single
- This is a CD single released in 5" CD format (a normal CD) featuring the title song and also alternate versions (karaoke/instrumental), remixes or other songs.
- obi
- Small piece of paper which comes with most Japanese CD releases and usually covers the left end of the CD box. It gives artist name, title, price and release date, and sometimes tracklist, critics, etc. Most major releases have an obi, but many indie releases don't have one. Sometimes the obi is substituted by a sticker on the wrapping or by a thin cardboard sleeve wrapped around the jewel case.
Although collectors normally keep the obi preciously as part of the design, the average Japanese music buyer will often throw it away as a simple price tag. For that reason it's often missing with used CDs.
- promo
- The CD was a free promo/sampler sent to critics, radio stations and record stores. In Japan it is usually same as the commercial release but with a red sticker over the bar code. Unless noted in our item description, the item is otherwise the exact same as the commercial release.
- rental
- The CD is from a rental shop. There is the official "RENTAL CD" sticker on the jacket or box and there may be other stickers used in the rental store to identify the item. If it's in not-so-good condition there's a note saying so, otherwise it's fine.
- shrink-wrapped / brand new
- The CD is still in its original wrapping and has never been opened or played!
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Frequently asked questions
