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August 13, 2026
 

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JAZZ

¡°Mojacat,¡± Kan Sano¡¯s first solo album in four years, gave the musician the opportunity to work with childhood favorite Ua.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 27, 2026
Kan Sano lets go of control and lets others in on ¡®Mojacat¡¯
Kan Sano¡¯s latest album expands his musical imagination, with collaborators such as Chara and Ua helping him push beyond the limits of going it alone.
Members of jazz ensemble The Blend ¡ª (from left) pianist Hakuei Kim, trumpeter Keisuke Nakamura, bassist Yoshio Suzuki, drummer Tamaya Honda and saxophonist Kosuke Mine ¡ª performed at Billboard Live Yokohama last month to celebrate Suzuki¡¯s 80th birthday.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 10, 2026
At 80, Yoshio Suzuki keeps chasing the possibilities of jazz
The veteran bassist proves that jazz is as much about discovery as it is mastery.
Author Haruki Murakami (right) joins Roland Kelts on stage for the Murakami Mixtape event. Murakami is the contemporary Japanese novelist most emblematic of the country¡¯s love of jazz.
CULTURE / Music / CULTURE SMASH
Mar 29, 2026
How the Japanese made jazz their own
Through Haruki Murakami and a Tokyo-to-New York performance, hints of how Japan reinterpreted jazz.
American saxophonist Patrick Bartley is the leader of J-Music Ensemble, a jazz-fusion band specializing in instrumental covers of Japanese music.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2025
Finding jazz in J-pop: Patrick Bartley¡¯s musical second language
The J-Music Ensemble leader translates Japanese culture into a classic American musical tradition.
Tobias Bieker settled in Osaka in 2018 and started "Unpacking Japan" as a side project with ZenGroup five years ago.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 11, 2025
Tobias Bieker: ¡®A good interviewer helps the guest shine¡¯
The host of the ¡°Unpacking Japan¡± podcast offers his take on Osaka life, Japanese jazz and writing fiction.
Quincy Jones attends a reception in his honor at the Residence de France in Los Angeles on April 25, 2017.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 4, 2024
Quincy Jones, renaissance man of American music, dies at 91
Jones died at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family, according to a statement from his publicist.
The 2024 Kentaro Kaneko Award ceremony will be held Oct. 15 at the International House of Japan in Tokyo¡¯s Minato Ward.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 24, 2024
America-Japan Society announces recipients of 2024 Kentaro Kaneko Award
This year¡¯s Kentaro Kaneko Award celebrating achievements in furthering U.S.-Japan relations goes to a volunteer, an educator and a legendary musician.
Musician Yuka Noda¡¯s 1989 album ¡°Karibu no Yume: Light Fusion Fantasy¡± has developed a cult following among jazz fusion fans, and the album is set to be reissued as a CD and record next week.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 19, 2024
Yuka Noda¡¯s sonic escape to a balmy yesteryear
The reissue of Noda¡¯s 1989 album ¡°Karibu no Yume: Light Fusion Fantasy¡± underlines a growing interest in bubble-era nostalgia and Â鶹´«Ã½ jazz and fusion works.
While Japan is home to many jazz cafes, its summer festivals will let you listen to the music in the open air.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 9, 2024
Â鶹´«Ã½ summer offerings include jazz and classical music festivals
Not up for the rock and rap that¡¯s front and center of Â鶹´«Ã½ many summer concerts? Try a few jazz festivals instead.
¡°Blue Giant,¡± a feature-length anime movie that centers on young men in Tokyo who aspire to become jazz stars, was so successful in Japan and overseas that director Yuzuru Tachikawa was given an even bigger budget to re-edit the film for a second screening in theaters across Japan.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Nov 23, 2023
Sleeper hit anime ¡®Blue Giant¡¯ gets an encore
The surprise success of the big-budget feature about jazz warranted a re-edited version and a second life in theaters.
Inagaki, now 90, says a pivotal trip to the United States in 1969 changed not only his fashion sense from preppy to hippie but also his approach to music.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 27, 2023
Saxophonist Jiro Inagaki¡¯s golden age of jazz rock
¡°WaJazz Legends: Jiro Inagaki¡± highlights the musician¡¯s eclectic oeuvre, which has transformed a sidetrack artist into a pillar of Japanese jazz.
Sosuke Ikematsu plays two pianists ¡ª or is it just one? ¡ª pursuing dreams of becoming a jazz musician in late-1980s Tokyo in ¡°Between the White and Black Keys.¡±
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2023
¡®Between the White and Black Keys¡¯: Offbeat biopic will have you seeing double
Masanori Tominaga¡¯s free-spirited film about jazz pianist Hiroshi Minami captures the vibe of 1980s Tokyo nightlife but remains mostly on the surface.
Singer and dancer Shizuko Kasagi's life is the basis for the new morning drama series on NHK.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Longform
Oct 1, 2023
When the ¡®Queen of Boogie¡¯ reigned in Japan
Shizuko Kasagi gave Japan a reason to rejoice again and inspired a generation of young women in the process.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 16, 2023
Memories, melancholy and all that jazz
Jazz enthusiasts James Catchpole and Philip Arneill set out to capture a time capsule of Â鶹´«Ã½ fading haunts with ¡®Tokyo Jazz Joints,¡¯ a photobook featuring 120 cafes and bars.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 16, 2023
¡®Blue Giant¡¯ soundtrack steals the spotlight
The manga adaptation¡¯s score, composed by jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara, hits all the right notes even if the animation fails to strike a chord.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 1, 2022
Atsushi Murakami: ¡®If Tono becomes synonymous with hops in Japan, I¡¯ll be happy¡¯
Atsushi Murakami has played many roles in his life, including as the creator of the Murakami Seven hop variety.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 23, 2020
Not even a global pandemic can keep jazz musician Haruka Kikuchi from her trombone
Japanese jazz trombonist Haruka Kikuchi is coping with COVID-19 restrictions by streaming live performances from her home in New Orleans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 26, 2020
Ron Carter: A record-breaking jazz legend returns to Tokyo
¡°I think people still want to hear the old man playing on an antique,¡± says Ron Carter. ¡°And as long as they want that idea, I¡¯m kind of available.¡±
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 12, 2019
Free jazz veteran Yosuke Yamashita marks 50 years of his trio¡¯s ¡®reckless¡¯ playing
The pianist brings together past members of his Yosuke Yamashita Trio for celebratory Tokyo show.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 8, 2019
Hiromi Uehara drops the band and steps out alone
The pianist returns to solo work for her latest album, ¡®Spectrum,¡¯ 10 years after her last solo release
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Severe tropical storm Chan-hom makes landfall near Tokyo
Severe Tropical Storm Chan-hom made landfall around Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, on Tuesday night.
What Â鶹´«Ã½ language rules for permanent residency should look like
Potential health care workers hoping to find work in Japan take Japanese language instruction in Jakarta. Not all applicants for permanent residency should be expected to reach this level of proficiency.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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