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All my music CDs from Japan have a code printed on the back (and sometimes also on the disk or the booklet). It seems to start with capitalized letters and to end with numerals.

For example, my soundtrack to the movie Oldboy has EKLD 0307 and my soundtrack to the anime Wolf’s Rain has LC 01666.

What is the meaning of this code? Does it identify the release, the disk, the work, or something else?

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It is the catalog number of the CD. It is like an ID number for identification, ordering etc., and unique to that CD.

For example, for CDJapan Moshimo Watashi ga Sora ni Sundeitara Limited Edition Misaki Iwasa CD Maxi it is TKCA-73860.

This page details the format used, RIAJ standardized manufacturer codes - Japanese manufacturer codes 101

As for a 2 disc set in one case, I have the following for an example:
Miki Imai "Moment".

Catalog # (on case) is FLCF-3709.
On Disc 1 - FLCF-3709(DA-585)
On Disc 2 - FLCF-3709(DA-586)

The difference is a sub number used to identify the individual disc.

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  • "unique to that CD": Does this mean to that release (no matter how many CDs it may contain) or to the actual disk (so an album with two discs would have two IDs)? And would the ID change if a new release, which contains exactly the same tracks, gets pressed?
    – unor
    Feb 28, 2015 at 5:33
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    Wasn't sure if I had a 2 disk set but I found one. I'll edit my answer.
    – user3169
    Feb 28, 2015 at 5:41

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