Day 20 / 2024.S7.E20 - I’d Buy That for a Dollar (一ドルで買うよ)
DAISO (ダイソー) is a common ¥100 store, the equivalent of a dollar store in the USA. With the current strength of the USD over Japanese Yen, it is really more like a $0.60 store to me. Shopping at stores like these alone, one can purchase a majority of the essentials for their apartment on the cheap, with silverware, bowls, ponchos, shower curtains, stationery, and many more. They are common tourist spots as well for cheap souvenirs to take home. I remember my father buying a 100pc container of Q-tip/cotton swab equivalents from DAISO last year, they were very comfortable to use.
Play a record that was purchased for cheap (given that prices of vinyl have increased substantially, this threshold will be at $15 USD or less).
Kimiko Kasai (笠井紀美子) - Tokyo Special
Found this for ¥1500 with OBI and original insert in Disk Union Shinjuku. A commonality of the Disk Union franchise is that each location/city has their own sale promotions. In the case of this Shinjuku location, records with an orange price tag are discounted 5% for the month of April. This record (and the two other used LPs I bought in this store) had an orange tag, knocking this specific LP down to a cool ¥1425 (~$9.30 USD at that time, even less now).
I find Kasai's voice to be among the best in vocal Japanese jazz. She's worked with Herbie Hancock a few times over the years, most well-known on
Butterfly. I received the reissue of that record as part of my SS package last year. A few here have already spun it this month, great to see. I do wish she sang in Japanese more than English across her records, but her voice is lovely either way.
She has retired from performing music and is now a jeweler. This record is my absolute favorite in her discography, bridging the gap between city pop, vocal jazz, and funk. Recommended.
Here's my receipt for proof of the price I mentioned above:
