Good news and bad news. The good news is Japan Codes sent my iTunes card instantly with my purchase. The bad news is the price for a ¥10,000 went up to $110 dollars from last year. I paid $91 dollars last year.
Purchased Japan iTunes card
Ordered from Japan Codes. Took 3 hours, 49 minutes to receive code. Price was was $91.21 for ¥10,000 card. That was best price so far. I paid $141 for the same 2 years ago.
Japan iTunes card
Bought another 10000 JPY iTunes card for $96.00. That’s the best price so far. It took 45 minutes for them to send my code. Their order process is different than before. They confirm your order by texting your phone with a code to complete your order.
FYI it might take longer if your place your order after normal business hours. Google “japan time” to give you an idea.
iTunes cards on Japan Codes
Just purchased a ¥10000 on Japan Codes for $99.00. Thats the best price they’ve offered in the past few years. Two years ago I paid $141 for the same. My iTunes code was sent 3 minutes after my purchase. Another first.
Bought my 5th iTunes card from Japan Codes
¥10,000 iTunes card in 3 hours
Collecting Japanese music: The essentials
If you’re serious about collecting Japanese music there’s only two things you need: an Amazon Japan account and your own Japanese address.
Amazon Japan
Amazon Japan is like any other online music store that sells Japanese music (i.e. CDJapan, YesAsia). You can create an account, order new CDs, and have them shipped to your door. Any of the other sites mentioned will do and are better for ordering in English. Amazon Japan does have an English site although parts of it are still in Japanese.
Why do I need a Japanese address?
Amazon Japan also sells discontinued (out-of-print) CDs through third parties. Sadly, they will not ship these items to the U.S. No problem. Tenso provides Japanese addresses and safely ships items to the U.S. Now you’re able to order rare CDs and save money on used items.
iTunes Japan
iTunes Japan is yet another source for new releases and out-of-print (OOP) music with the advantage of instant downloads. They may not have everything you need but I’ve seen their selection dramatically grow over the past couple years. iTunes Japan also requires a Japanese address. You’ll also need iTunes Japan cards available from JBOX or JAPAN CODES. (set up an iTunes Japan account)
Google Translate
Unless you understand Japanese you’ll have difficulty searching for artists and albums on the Web. Google Translate works with text and links. Google Translate is especially useful if you’re buying used CDs. Merchants list condition, imperfections, damage or missing items.
Platinum Disco is available on iTunes Japan!
japan-codes.com 10,000 JPY iTunes card
I bought another 10,000 yen iTunes card last month. Their $12 markup is reasonable. I placed my order at 4:00am and received my iTunes code at 10:00pm. You can buy about 3-5 albums with that.