In F

In F jazz club, located near Oizumi-gakuen station in Tokyo, Japan (website, map)

Toritoritori3 with Kana Fuefuki (flute, piano), Hitomi Aikawa (melodica, percussion), and Megumi Hattori (vibraphone, piano) at In F in March 2025

Niigata sake, oden, and modern jazz: Congratulations to In F for celebrating 30 years open this year (est. July 17, 1995)! The name In F refers to the key of F of music. Playing a blues in F, or certain other standard tunes in F, is common in jazz.

Almost like a tiny classroom with a teacher’s desk table along the side, or a serious jazz study room, bookshelves line the walls at the jazz club In F in the Oizumi-gakuen district in Tokyo. In the center, up-front floor seats can be had at one long community table made up of three smaller square tables pushed together with seats for about 6 to 8 people.

Toritoritori trio with Kana Fuefuki (flute, piano), Hitomi Aikawa (melodica, percussion), and Megumi Hattori (vibraphone, piano) at In F in March 2025. The name “toritoritori trio” could be interpreted as “bird bird bird trio”, nice wordplay where the rhyming punctuation of the English word ‘trio’ follows the three-times repeated Japanese word ‘tori’. It’s a great name for a band whose members frequently trade places on stage during a show and create soaring music flying between various instruments including flutes, lots of percussion, small keyboards, vibraphone, and piano.

There are also great views from the L-shaped bar in the back with space for several more customers. These bar seats are close enough to the stage with an elevated view, and even closer to In F’s tasty food and drinks, which are centered around a variety of Niigata specialties. Niigata (新潟) is a major Japanese port city known for its delicious rice production and, as a result, its high-quality Niigata nihonshu. Naturally, varieties of famous Niigata sake are also a big draw at In F jazz bar, and the rice wine is poured from large bottles with beautiful labels that customers can appreciate up close with their pour.

The classic seasonal dish of savory oden (Japanese soul food) is also a can’t-miss draw here, offered in a mini size with boiled eggs, daikon radish, and other ingredients. In addition to oden, simple plates like grilled potatoes, pickled vegetables, fries, and tofu are rotated in and out of the menu. And there’s always beer, of course, even Guinness.

Voxographia trio with George Nakajima (piano), Hiroe Kobayashi (vocal), and Koji Tetsui (bass) at In F in March 2025

In F occupies a small square windowless room on the third floor, where customers are surrounded by books, magazines, CDs, and even cassette tapes that vie for space in the crammed bookshelves.