Jazz of Japan #294 — Strings jazz club, located near Kichijoji station in Tokyo, Japan
Maiko (violin), Yuki Ito (bass), and Shikou Ito (piano) at Strings in February 2025
Strings is a friendly jazz bar in Kichijoji, a popular neighborhood just east of Tokyo’s main center known for its beautiful park, shopping, dining, and rich cultural lifestyle. Kichijoji, besides being an attractive neighborhood in its own right, also hosts the popular and well-known jazz club Sometime, a frequent destination for new and old jazz fans alike. Yet Strings, located a bit off the beaten path, offers its own style and charm for jazz lovers.
Yuichi Narita on solo piano at Strings in April 2023
As noted on their homepage, Strings is a Live Bar & Italian Restaurant and serves up quality jazz and Italian food with simple, easygoing grace. This bar is modestly tiny with several seats directly up against the grand piano and a few tables and bar seats around the rest of the room.
Tenerezza Trio with Maiko (violin), Makiyo Sakai (flute), and Sayaka Kishi (piano) at Strings in March 2023
Although the room seems small, the talented artists who play here are top-notch. Sometimes, this bar can be completely full with preset reservations (or even nearly empty at other unfortunate times). But, when the jazz is cooking, the pizza comes out piping hot, and the decanter of wine arrives, it is a perfect way to spend an evening listening to real handcrafted jazz music in Tokyo.
In addition to jazz, Brazilian music, and stringed instruments including violin are also often featured.
Yoshihiko Naya (piano) Quartet with Nami Kano (alto sax), Masayuki Tawarayama (bass), and Takehiro Shimizu (drums) at Strings in May 2013Botan Duo with Akiko Suda (vocals) and Yuichi Narita (piano) at Strings in February 2017Emiko Voice and Yuji Yajima (bass) at Strings in January 2017Miyuki Moriya (sax) with Rin Heitetsu (piano) and Yutaka Yoshida (bass) at Strings in February 2013Josei (piano) Trio with Noriaki Akita (bass) and Sohnosuke Imaizumi (drums) at Strings in December 2012Takako Yamada (piano) Trio with Koji Yasuda (bass) and Gaku Hasegawa (drums) at Strings in May 2014Rie Taguchi (vocals) and Shin Kamimura (bass) at Strings in September 2013Emiko Voice, Koichi Sato (piano), and Tomoka Abe (guest vocalist) at Strings in August 2015Emiko Voice and Yoshihiko Naya (piano) at Strings in June 2015Harumi Nomoto (piano) Trio with Ryoji Orihara (bass) and Sohnosuke Imaizumi (drums) at Strings in October 2013Mina Yamano (vocals) and Kazuhiko Obata (guitar) at Strings in July 2013Tomoka Miwa (vocals) and Yuta Kaneko (organ) at Strings in March 2013Yuji Kawamoto (bass) Trio with Taihei Asakawa (piano) and Manabu Hashimoto (drums) at Strings in December 2012Trispace Trio with Yuichi Hayashi (piano), Morihiro Omura (bass), and Yoshitaka Yamashita (drums) at Strings in October 2012Mai Petty at Strings in July 2012Sayaka Kishi (piano) session with Seiji Harakawa (sax) and Koji Yamashita (bass) at Strings in June 2012Yuichiro Hiraoka (guitar) and Heitetsu Rin (piano) at Strings in November 2011Megumi Kotomi (vocals), Yuichiro Hiraoka (guitar), and Heitetsu Rin (piano) at Strings in November 2011Emiko Voice at Strings in October 2011Mizuki Maruoka (piano) Trio at Strings in October 2010Mizuki Maruoka (piano) Trio at Strings in October 2010Sawaka Hyodo (piano) Trio at Strings in October 2010Sawaka Hyodo (piano) Trio at Strings in October 2010Bar area at StringsBroccoli tuna at StringsPizza at StringsMushrooms saute at StringsStrings logo on the inside wallAn old sign for StringsThe outside sign for StringsWelcome to Strings
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