[steven]

I can only speak for the one I've been to in California, but I think they only had new CDs and they didn't have the best selection... in general it was more expensive than other import shops/Japanese market places. That could be totally different in NY though! It's defnitely worth checking out. I think Kinokuniya seemed cleaner than most other places and had some better quality stuff.

You might try looking for some Japanese markets in your area as the ones near where I used to live had CDs to buy as well as for rental. Incidentally, they had a movie rental area as well.

Other than that... something I have done is had my Japanese friend send me some CDs in a trade for some stuff of mine. The thing is we knew each other for a few years before doing this (it wasn't an "internet friend" or anything like that, although that might work although it's a risky proposition).

Good luck!

PS: Just for something I found interesting about Japan after moving here-- I knew they had music rental shops and stuff, but I had no idea how cheap they were. You can rent a CD for 80 yen... I'm talking about a whole album, although new singles are often the same price. However, when you compare that to something like itunes, it's REALLY cheap. A whole CD might have 10-12 songs on it. On itunes I'm guessing that would be about $10? You're not gonna find like indie music or anything like that, but if it's anything popular they usually have it, which is pretty cool! I wonder if that isn't the reason why buying CDs is such an expensive thing in Japan.