The Story of Koichi Satō and Best Sound Records
- James Gaunt
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Koichi Satō left Japan for the US where he spent the 1990s collecting records to resell back home. After ten years abroad, Satō returned to Japan and opened Best Sound Records, in Tokyo. American musicians such as Pete Rock, De La Soul, DJ Shadow, and Cut Chemist were among his customers and the store became well known by collectors and crate diggers looking for samples. In 2020, he closed his business and founded Best Sauna Hat®, a store specializing in hats worn in saunas.
Koichi Satō grew up in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. While he was a student in junior high school, he became interested in BMX biking and then the United States, where the sport had originated. He began working part-time to save up money to visit the US, and in 1982 made his first visit when he was 16.
“I only stayed for about a month,” Satō said. “But the experience changed my outlook on life in a profound way. After graduation, I got a job in Japan, but I couldn't forget America. Eventually, I quit my job and moved there.”
Satō was 20 years old at the time when he returned to the US. He took a job at a Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles, as it guaranteed him a visa to enter the country. Around the same time, his best friend Takumi Shimomura (a professional BMX rider and cousin of Ryuichi Sakamoto) had begun studying at UCLA. Satō occasionally watched Shimomura compete in BMX events, and the two would go sightseeing together on weekends, driving out to places such as the Grand Canyon and Death Valley. Additionally, Shimomura was able to provide advice to help Satō in adapting to the US. This new life brought many changes with it, including Satō's musical tastes. During his high school years, he had been interested in punk and heavy music such as thrash metal group Slayer. However, his tastes broadened while in the US.
“I discovered Zappa when I was 23 years old, and since then he has been the artist I respect the most. He was the person who led me to discover Black music, and I owe a great deal to him for that. Through his music, I became aware of the incredible diversity that music could offer, and that was what led me to start collecting records.”
“It wasn't until I moved to the United States that the collecting bug really kicked in (laughs). I started collecting records from the 1960s and 1970s. With my limited English, I became friendly with record store owners and gradually made American friends. Through those friendships and their influence, I slowly broadened my knowledge and perspective.”
After five years working at the restaurant, Satō began making a living as a record dealer instead. At first, he searched record stores and conventions nearby to where he lived in Pasadena, Los Angeles. After he was able to save some money, he travelled further afield such as to Florida and New York. He then sold his records to second-hand record stores in Japan whose buyers would fly from Japan to Los Angeles every few months to visit Satō and look through his records.
“The first time, they purchased as much as $5,000 worth of records. That encouraged me to buy even more. Also, I met Japanese record dealers who came to the record conventions to buy stock. Through those encounters, I obtained contracts to send records to Japan on a regular basis.”
Traveling around the US, people were often surprised to meet a Japanese record dealer. They welcomed Satō and treated him with respect as he purchased hundreds of records to be sent to Japanese collectors. One time in Jacksonville, Florida, the store owner was so intrigued by Satō that he took him out for dinner and introduced him to all of his friends. Thankfully, wherever he went, Satō noted the people were kind and he never faced any discrimination.
His travels across the country led him to meet John Hillyard, who would later become well known beyond record collectors thanks to his connection with DJ Shadow. Satō and Hillyard met around 1989 at the Pasadena City College record fair.
“Even back then, John stood out more than anyone else. He had graying dreadlocks, thick black-framed glasses, and a very striking appearance. Of course, he was also selling great records at very reasonable prices, so he made a strong impression on me. Little by little, we started talking more often. Eventually he said, ‘You should come visit my store!’ From then on, I began making the three-hour drive to John's shop on a regular basis.”
“I remember John opening a fully independent record store around 1992. Before that, he rented space inside an antique shop, and later shared a store with a Mexican guy. I don't know his name, but he was in a punk band and there was a drum kit in the shop. After those experiences, I believe he eventually opened his own store. He may not have been particularly friendly. However, he was always kind to people who bought records from him (laughs).”
Satō would make the drive to see Hillyard at least once every six months, and noted that there were never any other customers in his store at the time. This was when CDs had gained popularity, and small record stores weren’t as popular for the average person, especially in a small town like Merced, California, where John Hillyard was based.
“I was buying and selling records with John until May 1995. After that, I returned to Japan, so I would only see him occasionally at record shows when I came back to the US on buying trips. The reason I returned was simply that my visa had expired. I made that decision because I believed I could make more money by distributing and selling records in Japan than by wholesaling them from the United States. If my visa had still been valid, I might have stayed a little longer. However, looking back, I think it was the right decision.”
After collecting around 20,000 records of his own, Satō returned to Japan to open his own store. Surprisingly, he found that the price of records had risen in Japan in the ten years since he had left. This was good news for someone about to open a record store, and Satō found a location in Shimokitazawa, an area that had been familiar to him during his high school years. The next thing to do was find a name.
“When opening the record store, I wanted a name that would be easy to remember and easy to find. Since I wanted the word ‘Records’ in the name, I decided to call it Best Sound Records. At that time, there were very few second-hand record stores in Shimokitazawa. As our store became more well known, many other shops gradually began opening there as well.”
“We originally planned to open as a soul music specialty store, selling both rare groove records and classic soul releases. We also carried a large selection of hip-hop 12-inch singles, which were becoming very popular at the time. This was before the Internet became widely available, so very few people bought records for resale purposes; most customers were simply genuine music lovers.”
Best Sound Records advertised in specialist soul music magazines to attract customers, and Satō would return to Los Angeles every three months to buy more records. As the store became well known, it attracted DJs from around the world. These included MURO (Takayoshi Murota), members of UFO, Pete Rock, The Beatnuts, De La Soul, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, and many others.
“Sometimes MURO would bring overseas artists with him, and other times people discovered us through our record blog. When Pete Rock and his crew came over, I kept the store open until 2am for them. The only problem was that they secretly opened sealed records so they could listen to them. I told them not to do it, but they did it again on the second day, so I got a little angry (laughs). The first time I met DJ Shadow was at my record store around 1997. He came to the shop twice, but he bought most of his records through my online store.”
“At the time, I had an excellent team of record store staff, and we listened very carefully to every new hip-hop release. Whenever a new hip-hop record came out, people would come looking for the original records that had been sampled. Part of my job was to find out as quickly as possible what had been sampled.”
As downloading music gained popularity during the early 2000s, Satō noticed there was less demand for secondhand records. Interest in soul music also declined and Best Sound Records shifted focus towards rock and jazz instead. Soon, more and more customers were buying through mail-order rather than in store and when travel restrictions were introduced due to COVID-19 in 2020, Satō decided to close his store for good. Remaining stock was sold on Yahoo Auctions and to other stores such as Disk Union.
Now, Satō is selling sauna hats through his new business Best Sauna Hat in Setagaya, Tokyo. They were the first specialized sauna hat store in Japan and much like with Best Sound Records, the reputation of Best Sauna Hat grew quickly. They are known worldwide and have collaborated with artists including Japanese illustrator Terry Johnson.
“Tiny things can completely alter the direction of a person's life. For me, moving to the United States was one of those major turning points. But just as important was the power of music itself. Without music, I doubt that my current Sauna Hat business would ever have come into existence.”
This article was put together by James Gaunt (@jimmyjrg / @unkle98). Interview conducted by Jonathan Boulicot (@djshadowreconstructed / @eikimono) on Instagram between June and July 2026 (using AI for translation approved by Satō). All photos from Koichi Satō’s (@best_sauna_hat) archives.
We would like to thank Kazuhito Tominaga (@waninoniwa), who first put us on Satō’s trail after telling us about his connection to John Hillyard, whose story we had previously documented. What began as a conversation about Hillyard eventually developed into this interview about Satō’s own story.
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