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Comment by cageface | Hacker News Reader

The bars may be disappearing but Jazz itself is alive and well in Japan. I heard it everywhere in Kyoto & Tokyo. I'm not sure why this is but it's a lot more pleasant than the top 40 stuff you hear playing everywhere in the US.

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If you're into fusion jazz at all, two of the best bands of all time hail from Japan: Casiopea and T-square. Their influence is felt deeply in lots of 80s/90s Japanese PC and Video game soundtracks. The keyboardist for Casiopea also composed all of the station jingles for the subway in Japan, which all together make one song.

- https://youtu.be/S0Xm1PWb07o

- https://youtu.be/4DCWEJzsrJo

- https://youtu.be/wBD1_mrRUIk

Casiopea is totally wonderful. I learned about them when I got onto the young drummer Kanade Sato. Here she is backing up Mukaiya at a very young age on a wonderful Casiopea song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C3Nml8IBf0

And here she is at a much later age covering Megalith by T-Square https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-BvHJr5OjE

> The keyboardist for Casiopea also composed all of the station jingles for the subway in Japan

This is amazing! I had no idea this was the same person. I love Casiopea.

Yeah, check it out!

https://youtu.be/nSG5IkRA9BE

Whoa! This is awesome. Made me Google again (hadn't since my first trip to Japan) for any melodies I could find as a download to use as a ringtone/text tone (not that my phone is ever off vibrate mode).

Thanks!

One of my favourite (Japanese) Jazz/Post-Rock bands is Mouse on the Keys

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16g0M3lJvio

Japan has amazing jazz artists!

One of my favorite jazz playlist on Spotify is The Rhythm of Japan https://open.spotify.com/user/rowanaboat96/playlist/7ciqeUtO...

Also worth exploring the World Jazz playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1231409117/playlist/5lgPIUHnf1...

In Japan, jazz is sort of a/the default background music for many uses - shops, cafes, bars, lounges - especially when a cool, sophisticated, shibui air is desired. The actual scene of gig-goers and enthusiasts seems to be a small, older demographic, though.

I get laughed at for listening to jazz.

As long as you like it, that's what matters, right?

Jazz is great. They don't know what they are talking about.

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