In a sign of Japan’s rapidly declining physical-music market, HMV Japan will shut its flagship store in Tokyo's Shibuya district in August.

Local media cite a June 7 fax message from HMV Japan to its business partners informing them that the Shibuya outlet will close on Aug. 22. The company will only say that the store will shut down "in mid-August." HMV Japan will also reportedly close stores in the Aeon Kamisato Shopping Center in Kamisato, Saitama Prefecture, on Aug. 15; in the Kawanishi Mosaic Box shopping mall in Kawanishi, Hyogo Prefecture, on Aug. 29; and in Canal City Hakata in Fukuoka on Aug. 31.

The 600-sq.-meter Shibuya store first opened for business in 1990 and is the largest of HMV Japan’s 57 outlets.

News of the store closures follows a March 25 announcement that Tokyo-based Culture Convenience Club (CCC), operator of music and video retail/rental chain Tsutaya, would purchase all the shares in HMV Japan from Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments (DPI) effective June 30.The deal cemented CCC’s status as Japan’s biggest music retailer.

“Tsutaya’s main interest in HMV is their fairly healthy on-line business,” says one industry source.

U.K.-based HMV launched its Japanese subsidiary in 1990, but sold it to DPI in 2007 due to declining CD sales.