“And whenever you visit a record shop or rental store, you knew that the staff there were all music lovers. […] Everyone was like Tarantino.”
As a student with no money, Kojima witnessed the emergence of vinyl rental shops in Japan — a business he says was invented by a student. The shops were astonishing, stocked with imports that rarely appeared in the country and with walls covered in clippings and staff recommendations that he made full use of. The shop staff were genuine music lovers; Kojima said everyone behaved like Tarantino. If he went to borrow a 12-inch by New Order, the clerk would gush that it was amazing, he would agree and then ask if the clerk had heard another record, and that exchange would turn them into friends. Today, he says, if you ask a clerk about an artist they often do not know them and tell you to look it up yourself.
“that's when vinyl rental shops started popping up. […] In Japan, it was actually a student who came up with the idea to turn rental shops into business. […] Like, if I went to borrow a 12-inch by New Order, they'd say, isn't it amazing? And I'll be like, of course it is, and then follow up with, have you listened to this one? And that's how you become friends.”