When I visit Japan I have two main goals, besides visiting with friends and family. I lived here for over a decade and am now on my 5th or 6th trip back since returning to Canada to live in 2008, so don’t do much touristy stuff. You’re unlikely to find me visiting temples, shrines, castles or other historical places of interest.
My big goals are musical. One is to dig through the bins of as many record stores as possible, tracking down rare jazz and Japanese jazz treasures. The other is to time portal back to the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s through the magic of Japanese jazz coffee shops (or Jazz Kissa).
If you don’t know Jazz Kissa, this article from a couple of years back and this podcast from after my last Japan trip a year ago may help you understand my fascination.
I have only touched the surface since my first Jazz Kissa visit in 2019, including shops in Fukuoka, Nagoya, Sapporo and Tokyo. One of the highlights of my trip this time is a planned train journey this week through Tohoku (the northern part of the main island, Honshu). A friend is joining me from Sydney, Australia, and we’ll be taking in Kissas in Fukushima, Yamagata, Sendai, Morioka and Hirosaki, and ending the trip in Hakodate in Hokkaido.
Expect a write-up on that adventure in October.
For now though I’ve been exploring places in the Tokyo area, with a mix of repeat appearances and new discoveries. I’ll share some of my favourites so far (in no particular order); if you only have a few days in the city, these are worth prioritizing for a visit.
Jazz Big Boy (Jimbocho)
Jimbocho, famous for used book shops, is just down the hill from Ochanomizu, one of my favourite record shopping areas in Tokyo.
The Ochanomizu Disk Union Jazz outlet is incredible, and a real wallet-drainer. It’s usually my first stop when I come to Tokyo. Last year after dropping a bundle on records, I googled “jazz kissa” and saw there were 3 or 4 nearby, so down to Jimbocho I went with Big Boy the first stop. Big Boy was also my first Kissa stop of this trip.
The shop is easy to find; on a corner with a bright yellow door and jazz record covers in the small front windows. The space inside is bright but not huge, with a 6-stool counter and three 2-top tables. The sound IS huge, coming via a pair of Pass Aleph mono blocks and JBL 4343B speakers. Don’t have specifics on the remaining equipment, but Mark Levinson, Wadia, Thorens, SME and Ortofon are all featured.
In the daytime, Big Boy operates in café mode (with focus on tea, coffee and light snacks) and in the evenings in bar mode (with a more alcohol-centred menu). They close the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month.
The shop owner Hayashi-san is super friendly, speaks some English, and is happy to engage in brief conversation between tracks, but when the music plays volume is on the high side so conversation is not realistic (and frowned upon). This is a place to just sit and let the notes flow over and around you.
If you have time, Adirondack is just a few minutes’ walk away and is a great contrast to Big Boy, being older and more rustic, with lower volumes and more talking. The couple who run Adirondack spent some time in New York when they were younger, ran a record store on their return to Japan, and started the Jazz Kissa some years ago.
Eagle (Yotsuya)
For anyone who follows Jazz Kissa on Instagram, the interior of Eagle will be quite familiar as they have a strong social media presence. Eagle is in a basement space a few minutes’ walk from Yotsuya JR station, on the Chuo Line between Tokyo and Shinjuku stations.
The shop has been around for more than 50 years, but there must have been a fairly recent renovation as the space feels quite modern. This is one of the biggest Kissas I’ve been to, and I’d estimate there’s seating for at least 50 or more patrons.
Like Big Boy, the space operates in café mode in the daytime and bar mode in the evening. During café time the no-talking rule is strictly applied and you’ll see patrons sleeping, reading, working on laptops and generally soaking in the music. After 6:00 pm lively conversation is acceptable and common (when the drinking starts, voices are raised).
Equipment here is high end, with an Accuphase preamp and CD player, Mark Levinson power amp, two Yamaha GT2000 turntables, and JBL 4344 Mk. II speakers.
Apart from the speakers, all records, CDs and electronics are housed in a glassed in booth; customers can get a peek of everything through the booth window, but details are hard to pick out.
This is a great spot for lunch with a selection of pastas and pasta sets (with salad and a drink), and a nice dessert and dessert set selection too. As you’re coming in (or leaving) there’s a bit of a shop area at the bottom of the stairs that sells T-shirts, magazines, CDs and other Jazz and Eagle paraphernalia.
Dug (Shinjuku)
Dug feels old but hasn’t actually been around that long. The owner previously operated a famous Jazz Kissa nearby called Dig that was closed when the building it occupied was torn down as part of a redevelopment project.
The interior of Dug is cave-like – dark brick and dim lighting. Descending the stairs from street level feels like going into an underground cavern or grotto, leaving the world behind and entering an other-worldly jazz space.
I don’t know much about their sound system as everything’s hidden from view. Music is loud enough but not overly so, and quiet conversation is common. I like coming here at lunchtime as the food is quite good (though portions are small).
If you have the time, Narcisse in nearby Kabukicho is worth a visit (see Instagram post). They only operate in the evening and are more of a bar than coffee shop. The owner plays a lot of avante-garde jazz, and loves to educate patrons on freer jazz forms.
Restaurant & Bar Funky (Kichijoji)
This is not really a Jazz Kissa, but I include it as the 2nd-floor bar plays jazz at all times, and they have a great sound system, with a McIntosh amps feeding a JBL Paragon system, which is a simply gorgeous combination.
With the restaurant downstairs, the food options here are a step up from the usual kissa fare. I stopped in at lunch time and had a lovely beef stew/curry dish. Music was Goldilocks perfect: neither too loud or too soft, and conversation was allowed.
Kichijoji is a great little shopping town. My wife and I used to visit quite often when we lived in Tokyo, with lots of home furnishing and accessory shops, in addition to fashion and restaurants. There’s also an excellent park just south of the station, perfect for cherry blossom viewing in the springtime.
Jazz Union (Harajuku)
I only decided to give Jazz Union a try after a third unsuccessful visit to Swing in nearby Shibuya. Twice on my last trip and once this time I made the 15-minute walk from Shibuya Station only to find it closed when it shouldn’t have been.
Having exhausted the Shibuya record shops, I googled “jazz kissa” and Jazz Union looked promising. Harajuku is a fashion hub, especially for young people, and it was a pleasant surprise to find this jazz oasis in the hubbub of back alleys, boutiques and cafés.
The shop is on the second floor of a house covered with fake creeper plants. Go up the outdoor spiral staircase and there it is behind an imposing red door. The space is not huge (there’s seating for about 12, with all but a couple of seats facing the speakers and audio equipment). When I was there, volume was pretty low and there was quite lot of talking going on, so this is a great place for a break from shopping when you still want to be somewhat social.
From time-to-time, Jazz Union hosts live jazz events; there’s a red piano set up full time in front of the little kitchen area, chairs get shifted back and other instruments take up space up front. I can only imagine these sessions are cramped but a great time.
Masako (Shimokitazawa)
Shimokitazawa is on the west side of Tokyo and easy to get to by train from Shinjuku or Shibuya. It’s great for thrifting, restaurants and craft beer, and is popular with young people for “O-warai” comedy (“warai” means laugh). There are several used record shops in town, with the Disk Union and Face Records outlets both featuring well curated jazz sections.
Masako was a new discovery for me this trip, and I’ve visited twice already (in fact I spent a couple of hours here as I typed up this article). In many ways it’s pretty non-descript; there’s not a lot of jazz paraphernalia on walls or counters. But the atmosphere is marvelous: lots of wood, eclectic furnishings, natural light from big windows, and a music-focused layout with the bulk of seats and tables (capacity around 15) facing the large main record wall unit and massive JBL 4343B speakers on top.
Music volumes here are relatively high, so conversation is once more not on the cards. Most of what I heard while enjoying the vibes was straight ahead jazz of the late ‘50s and ‘60s, with some Latin and Carribean sides slipped in here and there when the place emptied out a bit.
If you have the time, Jazz Haus Posy is 10 minutes away on foot. This is a lovely little bar (open 5:00-10:00 in the evening) run by a mother and daughter duo with a love for Bill Evans; stay long enough and you’ll likely hear at least a side of one of his records.
These six (or nine) Jazz Kissas give a good cross section of vibes and sizes, and I hope you’ll get the chance to visit some of them. If you can’t make it to these, you’re never too far from a quality jazz joint in Tokyo. If you’re somewhere other than the locations above, just google “jazz kissa” and you’re sure to find something worth a visit.
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Mike Cornell
September 23, 2024 at 12:12 pm
Japan is on our bucket list of places to visit and these articles of yours are an invaluable reference! Interesting that the speakers in most of these Kissas are 1) JBL and 2) placed either up against the wall or built right into the wall (obviously a necessity given the tight space but a so-called audiophile no-no) but I imagine the sound is glorious nonetheless! Looking forward to the next series!
Eric Pye
October 21, 2024 at 11:49 pm
Coming soon is a two-parter on a one-week trip a friend and I took up Tohoku (the northern half of the main island of Honshu). Hopefully that one gives you some ideas too.