Portable Japanese record players celebrated in new exhibition

Over 100 ultra-cool turntables.

A new exhibition celebrating the unique designs of portable Japanese record players opens in Tokyo this week. The collection of over one hundred turntables belongs to Fumihito Taguchi, a record shop owner in Tokyo.

As Taguchi explains in his recent book Japanese Portable Record Player Catalog, whilst the 1960s America ushered in a golden age of affordable record players as a household staple, in Japan quality players remained unattainable for most. Instead consumers bought cheap, mass-produced players.

Looking back at these players, each design was funkier than the next and many looked like toys, which would make sense given that toy companies as well as electronic firms were producing these decks. View a selection of the players in the gallery:

Taguchi’s collection will go on display in Tokyo at the Lifestyle Design Center from July 30 to August 28.

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