Welcome to Jazz of Japan!
This website is dedicated to showcasing modern jazz albums from Japan and Japanese musicians.
On Jazz of Japan, 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, honest introductions of new music to enjoy related to Japanese jazz.
In addition to albums, some articles also explore the world of Japanese jazz in real jazz bars, clubs, and live spots in Japan.
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About this site
This Jazz of Japan site features:
a newsletter subscription
a website archive of the newsletters and extra resources
You can view, browse, and search all the albums on the website without an account. And, if this topic appeals to you then you can also sign up for the free newsletter and get updates in your email.
There’s also a Substack app available in addition to or instead of signing up for the newsletter. This is great for those who want to subscribe, but who don’t necessarily want to sign up for more emails.
About the Albums
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 archive currently has over 200 articles published that I have written since 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. In most cases, these are modern-day albums from musicians that are still playing around Japan today and can be seen at live performances.
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. There is also a Musicians Index with links to musicians’ websites and related albums.
About the Clubs
In addition to the album articles, I also write articles about jazz clubs in Japan. Like the albums articles, all of this information is from my direct experience, and the photos were all taken by me with nothing copied from other sources.
The club articles are extra information for interested readers, with guides about Japanese jazz and specific jazz clubs in Japan with extra photos, links, and maps.
Reach out
Future features and updates are always possible, so 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).
Although official organizations and media use the traditional Japanese name order as standard use, in many cases, Japanese musicians’ names are shown in the English order on albums and music catalogs when displayed in English.
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Publishing since 2018 as “J Jazz: Modern Jazz From Japan” (WordPress from Jan 2018 at jjazzist.com ), “J Jazz Substack” (Substack from May 2021 at jjazz.substack.com), and “Jazz of Japan” (GitHub from Jan 2022, Substack from May 2023 at jazzofjapan.com).
