(Minor updates made 4/29.)
With the digital release of Atarashii Chiuz’s 72, I scrambled to try and figure out how to buy it. The only place I found success was with Recochoku. But here is what else I tried so others know.
Amazon Japan – limited to Japan. Japanese credit card is required, even if you have sufficient gift card balance.
iTunes – limited to Japan. I didn’t try with Japanese account and Japanese iTunes gift card, others have reported success, others failure. JCB credit card is reported to have worked, however, this credit card is limited to a few US states. (Update: 4/29. You CAN use iTunes with a Japanese account and Japanese gift card — I will link to a new post with directions once it is complete.)
Google Music – limited to Japan. I had no luck.
So, how to get the song on Recochoku? This guide is creating a new account using email address login and making a purchase using a credit card.
You can download using the desktop version of recochoku website and using Japanese VPN. Mobile did not work for me. You should still be able to use your phone, but switch to Desktop browsing for Recochoku.
You’ll be able to download 128 or 320kbps .m4a file by the end.
Create a New Account
Go to https://recochoku.jp/
Fill out the form above, using your email address, password, nickname, etc. 男 is the kanji for male, 女 for female. The year/month/day is for birthday and 東京部 is for prefecture in Japan. The one selected there is Tokyo.
This confirms that your registration was successful. You’ll receive an email, but you don’t have to confirm your email address. Click 次へ at the bottom, it’ll forward and automatically log you in.
Purchase Song using Credit Card
Navigate to whatever song you want to buy. I’m going to assume 72.
Then click on 設定 to purchase. I didn’t buy the song again, so I don’t have the exact screenshot that happens after that.
Download 72
You can download both the 128kbps or the 320kbps versions. It’ll just pop up a message and the file will start downloading like any other file online.
And that’s it! You should have your own copy of 72 at this point. Enjoy!
If you run into any issues, leave a comment here or just messages me on Twitter @msjumpingjax.