What’s this site about?
For sharing information about jazz and related music from Japan and Japanese musicians, mostly through albums released during the last twenty years. I write about both new releases and older albums in no particular order, but I try to prioritize new releases when I can.
How can I find a specific musician here?
Search the archive, or check the Index, which has links to musicians’ websites and albums.
How can I find albums with vocals, solo piano, violin, bossa nova, subgenres…
Search the archive for keywords like “straight ahead”, “bebop”, “solo piano”, “violin”, “vocals”, “bossa nova”, “Brazilian”, etc.
Where can I buy these CDs?
Check hmv.co.jp, amazon.co.jp, tower.jp, and cdjapan.co.jp (not all sites ship overseas). You may also be able to buy CDs directly from the musicians at their live shows or through their websites.
What’s J Jazz?
Japanese Jazz (see What’s J Jazz? for more). An early version of this website and newsletter was named J Jazz.
Where are the albums by …?
There are some famous musicians and albums that are still missing from the archive. I hope to cover these excellent players and albums someday! Still, I do try to share information about newer albums and musicians that are not as widely discussed.
For example, some famous Japanese jazz musicians and groups include:
- On piano: Toshiko Akiyoshi, Hiromi Uehara, Makoto Ozone, Ryo Fukui, Masabumi Kikuchi, Yosuke Yamashita, Masahiko Satoh, …
- On bass: Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Yasushi Nakamura, Noriko Ueda, Isao Suzuki, Tetsuo Sakurai, …
- On sax: Sadao Watanabe, Kosuke Mine, Hideaki Mochizuki, …
- On trumpet: Terumasa Hino, Takuya Kuroda, Fumio Nanri, Hideo Shiraki, …
- On drums: George Kawaguchi, Takeshi Inomata, Akira Jimbo , Fukushi Tainaka, …
- On guitar: Ryo Kawasaki, Kazumi Watanabe, Issei Noro, …
- Groups: T-Square, Soil & “Pimp” Sessions, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Casiopea, Orange Pekoe, Tokyo Jihen, KBB, Quasimode, …
How are the names of Japanese musicians displayed here?
The musicians’ 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 some official organizations and media use the traditional Japanese name order as standard, in many cases (such as on albums and music catalogs) Japanese musicians’ names are shown in first-name last-name order when displayed in English, such as with an artist or a band name.