Welcome to Jazz of Japan!
This website is dedicated to showcasing modern jazz albums from Japan and Japanese musicians.
My motivation is to provide straightforward descriptions of jazz recordings from Japanese musicians with photos, audio clips, and links to more information. Rather than a music critic’s album reviews, these are simple introductions of new music to enjoy, jazz from Japan. Recently I have started to publish short articles about jazz clubs in Japan as well. See the Q&A page and About this site below for more details.
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About this site
There are two basic modes for Jazz of Japan:
a newsletter subscription
a website archive of the newsletters and extra resources
You can be completely anonymous (no account or email required) and view all the albums in the archive. And, if this topic appeals to you then you can also sign up for the free newsletter and get updates in your email.
This project has been published on the web since 2018 in various forms and has recently returned to Substack.
About the Albums
In general, most of this site relates to jazz albums from Japan and is free and readable by anyone. Subscribers to the newsletter will get also an email when a new article is published.
The main feature of Jazz of Japan is the collection of Albums posts available here. The archive currently has over 150 articles published that I have written since January 2018, and new articles are being added on an ongoing basis. I strive to make each article brief but descriptive: a straightforward overview of the album and the musicians, photos, and links to music or videos where available. The focus is on the music itself with the goal of sharing it with a wider audience.
To view and search for albums and musicians, browse the Albums or Archive pages. You can also use the search function (a magnifying glass icon) built into this site. In addition, I’ve added a Musicians Index with links to musicians’ websites and cross references to albums discussed here.
About the Clubs
In addition to the Albums articles, this site also features articles about jazz clubs in Japan. These articles are categorized in the Clubs link at the top.
The Clubs articles are extra information for interested readers, with guides about Japanese jazz and specific jazz clubs in Japan with extra photos, links, and maps.
To view and search for jazz clubs, browse the Clubs or Archive pages. You can also use the search function (a magnifying glass icon) built into this site. In addition, I’ve added a Clubs Index with links to the jazz clubs discussed here.
Reach out
Future features and updates are always possible, so please don’t hesitate to reach out with your suggestions or comments. An easy way to contact me is by replying to the newsletter email.
A note on names
In most cases, names on this website are shown in “first name last name” order when written in English (given name first), and “last name first name” order in Japanese (family name first). For example:
Akane Matsumoto is 松本茜, where Akane is 茜 and Matsumoto is 松本, typically read in Japanese in the order 松本 (MATSUMOTO) 茜 (AKANE).
Fumio Karashima is 辛島文雄, where Fumio is 文雄 and Karashima is 辛島, typically read in Japanese in the order 辛島 (KARASHIMA) 文雄 (FUMIO).
