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A visual chronicle of Tokyo’s disappearing jazz bars (2016)
- pugworthy 6y agoIf you know Golden Guy (Burning Man camp), this seems straight up the kind of thing that should be there. (I already posted it to the Golden Guy FB group). And yea it's a takeoff on Golden Gai.
- supernova87a 6y agoI would love to visit some of these if travel ever becomes possible again... Although, you know it always seems a little intimidating to wander as a stranger into a very specialized, private bar or restaurant in Japan, and if not speaking Japanese (but that's a different topic). I came across an episode of "Japanology" on Youtube about cafes (which is a surprisingly interesting series produced by NHK -- each episode has a generally heart-warming or touching twist to the general theme it covers). And the ending is exactly about a jazz cafe that closed but was brought back for 2 weeks by its loyal fans some years later. I imagine some of the ones described here are in the same boat. https://youtu.be/UF0dnPwqXqY?t=1326 https://youtu.be/UF0dnPwqXqY?t=1326
- nateberkopec 6y agoIME, Japanese elders are polite to a fault, so while I get pretty intimidated going to a new cafe (kissaten), I'm always treated very well. I once wandered into a yakitori joint and an english-speaking patron made my whole order for me when they realized I couldn't read the menu. Golden Gai is another story, and I've heard about places in the deep countryside being a little more hostile, but those are exceptions.
- rootsudo 6y agoYou miss so much of Japan w/o knowing Japanese. Good thing that it's pretty easy to pick up and the JLPT N5 - N1 is really a great standard to compare against and see where you land. I lived in Tokyo for a year and passed JLPT N3 with a breeze. Bars are private and intimate, if you know how to speak Japanese, a world really opens in front of you and you easily make friends. Especially if you enjoy Japanese music. Try it! Especially w/ some of your favorite Japanese songs. You'll be surprised how quickly you'll pick it up!
- krackers 6y ago>Good thing that it's pretty easy I think you're underselling the difficulty a bit considering that Japanese is in the hardest class of languages as ranked by FSI [1]. Granted this probably includes literacy as well; if you only want to learn the spoken aspects it's probably not much harder than the category III languages. [1] https://www.state.gov/foreign-language-training/ https://www.state.gov/foreign-language-training/
- toyg 6y agoThe spoken aspect is really easy, by European standards, but you need a ton of practice to re-learn the entire vocabulary from scratch - no hints, no guesses. That requires a lot of patient effort, for our modern attention-deficit-by-default sensibilites.
- spacechild1 6y ago“it's pretty easy to pick up“ - “You'll be surprised how quickly you'll pick it“ - “passed JLPT N3 with a breeze.“ Good for you, but this doesn't quite match the experience of the average person trying to learn the language (like me) ;-)
- lmiller1990 6y agoI agree with the other responses to this comment. Many people who I know who passed N{1..5} say things like "It wasn't too bad", "It took me a few years"... I think a lot of people who have learned a second language to a high level of proficiency forget the struggle and difficulties. I passed N1 many years ago and am now very fluent, but the difficultly of transitioning to "real life" Japanese, even after passing N2, was very real. It took me around 5 years to pass N2 (without living in Japan, just studying and practising with whoever I found find). Even after passing N1, I still found it super tough to forge real friendships for quite some time after, since I would often struggle to say what I wanted to. I don't mean "haha, the weather is nice", but the actual interesting conversations you might want to have (for me this was mainly about software, for example). This pace of progression is probably not unusual. Learning a language is hard. To anyone else trying to learn Japanese who might be struggling, you can do it! I never experienced the "you'll pick it up", "it'll just click" moment - I just sucked for a long time, then progressively sucked less. I think the key is to accept you suck and put yourself out there anyway, and keep speaking and learning as much as you can. Oddly enough, I knew I was pretty fluent when people stop complementing or been impressed by your fluency. To the first line your comment, though, I definitely agree - without knowing the local language in most countries (especially somewhere like Japan with a very low level of English literacy) it is difficult to really experience culture.
- doctorhandshake 6y agoI was a fan of Tokyo (and Kyoto and Osaka’s) “Old man bars” after stumbling into a few on my first few visits there. Having discovered Tokyo Jazz Joints on Instagram before my last visit, I used some of their writeups for inspiration on where to check out this time around. While I have been both shouted and clapped out of a Japanese bar and told a bar was closed when it was clearly open (both immediately upon walking in, presumably because of my gaijin appearance), I’ve never had a negative experience in a jazz bar in Japan. If it’s your intent to quietly enjoy a drink and maybe some salty bar snacks, you will be treated with a low-key hospitality I’d describe as ‘genteel’ - it’s now a quality I look for in bars here in America because it is totally my speed.
- walshemj 6y agoI liked the concept of "old man bars" - tough a lot of UK pubs would fit that description, but not really a "spoons" pub
- leovander 6y agoOh, spoons. Where the whole family can come in to hang out with the town drunks all day. Experienced this outside of York, more country side.
- toyg 6y ago> to hang out with the town drunks all day I hate spoons. It's the worst of the corporate world (race to the bottom, conformity, lies, undercutting family businesses) sold as "what the working-classes really want". It's the McDonalds of alcohol and tabloid-culture, with a Scrooge-like owner to match.
- arethuza 6y agoI would would say "old man pubs" and "flat-roof pubs" are fairly widely used categories for pubs. Here's a thread on Reddit discussing the former in Edinburgh: https://www.reddit.com/r/Edinburgh/comments/6g422z/best_old_man_pubs/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Edinburgh/comments/6g422z/best_old_...
- cageface 6y agoThe bars may be disappearing but Jazz itself is alive and well in Japan. I heard it everywhere in Kyoto & Tokyo. I'm not sure why this is but it's a lot more pleasant than the top 40 stuff you hear playing everywhere in the US.
- deadwing0 6y agoI get laughed at for listening to jazz.
- abuteau 6y agoJapan has amazing jazz artists! One of my favorite jazz playlist on Spotify is The Rhythm of Japan https://open.spotify.com/user/rowanaboat96/playlist/7ciqeUtOYn8ukFdrMLX4UK?si=HMT8VcynSHGdZISMA2o48Q https://open.spotify.com/user/rowanaboat96/playlist/7ciqeUtO... Also worth exploring the World Jazz playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1231409117/playlist/5lgPIUHnf1kVgtheP3SzoE?si=Xfng6VS_QLKsRq1XsXpXKA https://open.spotify.com/user/1231409117/playlist/5lgPIUHnf1...
- bane 6y agoIf you're into fusion jazz at all, two of the best bands of all time hail from Japan: Casiopea and T-square. Their influence is felt deeply in lots of 80s/90s Japanese PC and Video game soundtracks. The keyboardist for Casiopea also composed all of the station jingles for the subway in Japan, which all together make one song. - https://youtu.be/S0Xm1PWb07o https://youtu.be/S0Xm1PWb07o - https://youtu.be/4DCWEJzsrJo https://youtu.be/4DCWEJzsrJo - https://youtu.be/wBD1_mrRUIk https://youtu.be/wBD1_mrRUIk
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- cercatrova 6y agoReminds me of stories from Haruki Murakami, which were laden with jazz references. He apparently worked at a jazz bar before writing his novels.
- 11thEarlOfMar 6y agoI could get lost in this world. I lived in Japan for a couple of years. A Japanese friend treated me to a Jazz Bar a couple of times. It was long ago... I only remember requesting a Billie Holiday song, Stars Fell On Alabama, I think. It was the perfect antidote for the relentless energy of Tokyo’s public life.
- kgarten 6y agoIf you visit Tokyo / Yokohama, I can recommend Dolphy for some live Jazz. https://dolphy-jazzspot.com/ https://dolphy-jazzspot.com/
- thiagocesar 6y agoSmack in the middle of Nogecho, one of the coolest nightlife areas I’ve ever seen.
- kgarten 6y agoJust an update, please reserve if you want to go right now ... they just accept 15 visitors a night.
- olingern 6y agoAs a person who just returned from Tokyo and sometimes plays with traditional jazz bands, I’m going to say Tokyo has a great atmosphere and thirst for jazz but rarely did I ever hear anything comparable to New York or New Orleans. It’s not lack of talent, Japanese musicians are incredibly talented. I think it’s more a lack of exposure to jazz pre-1950 or outside of the lounge genre context. It’s even hard for some professional American musicians to get because of trad jazz’s distinct feel. Throw on Basie’s “Jive at Five” or Ory’s “Savoy Blues” and you can get an idea of the genres (swing / nola jazz).
- AndrewUnmuted 6y agoJapan's exposure to jazz extends well beyond the "lounge" setting. It is home to some incredibly important participants in the free and avant-garde jazz scenes.
- enahs-sf 6y agoSwing in Shibuya is a real treat. I stayed in an Airbnb in the same building and found it by accident. I sat in there all day ripping cigs, drinking highballs and listening to old school bangers. The guy who owns it, Suzuki-San tends the bar and picks the tracks. He also plays trombone in a jazz band. I probably shaved 3 years off my life in the course of three hours but I’d stop in here anytime I’m in Tokyo.