[steven]

Well, the thing about California is that there is (and was) a big population of Japanese Americans. Not only that, but there is quite a big population of Japanese study abroad students. So much so that there is justification in having multiple Japanese super markets, shopping malls, and stores. In fact, there are a couple of shopping malls that are built on land that has been owned by Japanese Americans for a very long time (which used to be strawberry fields in the 20's and possibly earlier).

New York being a metropolis I'm sure has a lot of Japanese people, but geograhically speaking California is closer and it has a history of Japanese Americans being there. I think it's also interesting to note that there is the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles (which I think are joined together) which is basically America's connection to Asia.

Buying new CDs at markets and stores will probably not differ too much from online prices, and may very well cost more after taxes and the store taking their cut. If you can get your CDs used (I find Japanese Americans take very good care of their CDs... that and book-off is pretty strict in what they pick up from people) then you can get way better deals than you'd get on the internet (unless there are good deals on ebay with really affordable shipping, which to be honest i haven't really checked out before).

In your quest for Jrock, you might find some cool markets with some Japanese restaurants and stuff like that. When I was studying Japanese I started going to those kinds of places which really helped me learn about Japanese food. (It also exposed me to a lot of native Japanese which is always good for studying). You might be able to find magazines or books about the groups you like (although I'm sure they'll be in Japanese). I hope you have a good time looking for music! Let us know how it goes.