Staff Room:834.194 km and a Handshake: Takita Edition

Last Updated on 2026-08-03 by a-indie

Hi there! This is the BELONG Media editorial team.

Has a person you really admire ever walked into the place where you were working?

This is the fourth and final installment of our staff roundtable on the theme “Screenshots and photos we just had to take,” featuring wakiki (moderator), yabori, Takita, and Maririn. Today, Takita shares an unforgettable story from his days working at Tower Records.

“The Staff Was Gotch, the Customer Was Yamaguchi”

So, my title. It’s “The Staff Was Gotch, the Customer Was Yamaguchi.” I have two images — here’s the first one. When I used to work at Tower Records Shibuya (the flagship Tokyo location of Tower Records, a legendary destination for music lovers), there was a time when everyone was at the register at the same time, and Ichiro Yamaguchi from Sakanaction came in — and I was the one who served him. Sakanaction are a Japanese art rock and electronic band from Hokkaido, led by Yamaguchi. After my shift, I checked LINE and there was a message from a senior colleague: “Takita-kun, something kind of crazy is happening.” I asked what, and they said “Check Sakanaction’s X.” I did — and there was a photo of me on their official account.

Takita

yabori

That alone is incredible!

I was already thrilled by that, but when I said “I’m on their official account!”, my colleague said “No no, keep looking.” So I looked more carefully — here’s the second image. In the comments, a fan had written “I thought the staff member was Gotch” — that’s the nickname for Masafumi Gotoh, the vocalist of ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, one of Japan’s most iconic indie rock bands. And then someone else riffed on that: “the staff member looks like they’re about to perform Rewrite out of shock” — Rewrite being one of ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION’s biggest hits, known internationally as the Fullmetal Alchemist anime opening theme (laughs). That’s how I landed on the title “The Staff Was Gotch, the Customer Was Yamaguchi.”

Takita

yabori

And both of them wear glasses! (laughs)

I ended up on Sakanaction’s official X account AND got roasted by Sakanaction fans — a genuinely rare experience (laughs).

Takita

yabori

Truly one of a kind.

During the interaction, I mentioned I was from Hokkaido, same as him, and he said “Oh, seriously?” Then he put out his hand and said “Let’s both keep at it,” and we shook hands. He was really warm and approachable. After that, I started listening to Sakanaction even more seriously than before.

Takita

Oh, he’s from Hokkaido? I always thought he was from the Aichi area because of how much he talks about the Chunichi Dragons (a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture).

wakiki

Yes — Yamaguchi-san is from Otaru, a port city in Hokkaido known for its historic canals.

Takita

Ah, that makes sense.

wakiki

Several other members are also from Hokkaido. One person isn’t, but quite a few of them are — and they all knew each other from high school.

Takita

yabori

Speaking of which, didn’t Sakanaction name an album after the distance between Hokkaido and Tokyo?

That’s exactly the one in the photo I just shared.

Takita

yabori

That was 834.194 — the distance in kilometers between Hokkaido and their recording studio in Tokyo. That’s a remarkable concept for an album title. It really adds a whole other layer.

That really is something.

Maririn

yabori

And this was Tower Records Shibuya, right?

Yes, the ground floor.

Takita

yabori

Funny thing — Tower Records Shibuya was recently featured on NHK’s Documentary 72 Hours (a long-running documentary series where a single location is filmed continuously for 72 hours, capturing the lives of people who pass through), and the narrator for that episode was Gotch himself — I never would have expected that connection to come full circle (laughs).

Two people from Hokkaido meeting in Tokyo, and the album title is the exact distance between those two places… that’s something else.

wakiki

When you put it that way, I’m getting goosebumps. There really are a lot of connections in this story.

Takita

Amazing. That one you’d have to screenshot.

Maririn

So, what did you think?

What started with the title “The Staff Was Gotch, the Customer Was Yamaguchi” wound through a handshake, a shared Hokkaido connection, and the story behind the album 834.194 — going places none of us expected.

What stood out: Takita shared how that encounter led him to listen to Sakanaction more deeply than ever before, while yabori pulled out yet another connection — between Tower Records Shibuya and ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION’s Gotch — and kept the energy going right to the end.

That’s a wrap on all four installments of “Screenshots and photos we just had to take.” Thanks for reading, and stay tuned to BELONG Media for more!

BELONG Media Editorial Team
A music media outlet covering indie rock and beyond, from Japan, the West, and Asia. We have published 26 issues of our roots-rock themed print magazine, BELONG Magazine.

In 2021 we appeared as guests on J-WAVE’s SONAR MUSIC. In 2022 we launched our English-language sister site, A-indie.

Our editorial team runs primarily on shoegaze and dream pop.