Jazz Kissa
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
Music enjoyment has also taken a back seat, and I usually put it on in the background while I'm focusing on something else, instead of actively listening to it. I think the shift from music being released as part of thematic albums on physical media to individual tracks on online services is part of the reason for this. The average music listener just hits shuffle on a random playlist rather than focusing on a specific band, album or even genre.
btw, i'm still waiting an EDM club/rave with non damaging volume levels where no one is allowed to talk on the dance-floor
But it’s also sad how this would absolutely never work in NA due to commercial rent prices. Most of them seemed to be ran by an older man (70+, I’d guess). And from my chats with some of them, they owned the property as well. It was just a blissful experience to have a drink, listen to music that the owner deemed to find great, and just let your mind wander around.
One of them introduced me to some amazing jazz bands that I’ve never heard of, and talked a lot about the history of such places. Shout out to Hideki-san!
This and so many other things. Low rents in Japan enable small time entrepeneurship in so many ways that is impossible in NA. Derek Guy discusses this often in the context of menswear. https://x.com/dieworkwear/status/1861583359518089544
It's another example of the Housing Theory of Everything, that we're suffering in all sorts of other ways by making real estate scarce.
The Canadian government has recently been savaged by the media and opposition for their immigration policy, being blamed for high home prices, but I suspect the policy people in the government are looking at Japan and Italy small towns emptying out and are terrified and hoping to avoid that.
It should be noted that while the population of some rural and remote towns in Japan may be declining severely, the population of Tokyo is increasing. That Tokyo is still so much remarkably more affordable than the other great major cities around the world amidst this shows that they are doing something right policy wise beside the demographic issues.
Seems like a possibility in smaller European cities though.
To be fair though, all the places I went to were much less busier than actual local bars or designated cafes. A couple of places were just full of regulars (I went to a couple of them multiple times, and it was exactly the same people) with clienteles with average age of 60+. Obviously I have extremely limited amount of data points, so might be very wrong.
Iw was my understanding that NA rent prices are much lower than in places with high population density such as Europe or Japan? Every time I am in the USA I am shocked by the amount of commercial activities that would never work in Europe because of the sheer amount of space required to host them.
Another thing is, in most of the Canada (i'm more familiar with laws here, but assuming it's similar in the states), zoning laws actually would prevent such place to exist in the middle of housing compounds. I live in a city right now, but if there was such place, and it would take me about 15 minutes to drive there, I would absolutely never go other than for novelty factor. It's great, but it's not "i'll drive there by myself after work, have a drink and drive back" kinda great. If I could subway there for 20 minutes, I would probably do it once every other month. If it's 20 minute walking distance, then probably once a month.
So yeah, distance from your local neighbourhood would matter when it comes to niche businesses. But again, I might be extremely off my base, since I've never owned a cafe/bar.
Yep. Stopped by two on a trip to Japan earlier this year and one run by an old man and one by a woman apparently 80+ years old (!).
I had a great time but yeah feeling anxious in that for natural causes, many of these places will be closing very soon as their owners surely retire at some point. I do not think many have succession plans in place. Neither place I visited had any staff. The gentleman said he'd run the place by himself for decades.
It makes one want to immediately make more travel plans to Japan as a sort of depressing "last chance to see"[1] type trip to go visit more of them. I'm upset I was only able to visit two.
Much like how the amazing game centre culture of Japan has pretty much completely vanished from its 1990s era peak, I expect soon Jazz Kissas will be almost entirely impossible to find.
If it makes you feel better, in one of them (I think it was in Okayama), there were three people at the venue - owner (70s), and two girls who lived in a different city but were younger than me (mid-20s). We chatted for a while, and apparently all three in a trio, where the owner plays ob piano and the girls do tap dancing. It was the coolest thing ever for me! He even played some on piano for us. But, if I recall my conversations correctly, there was some interest from younger Japanese population to open up a similar place after they retire. Maybe there is some hope!
Curious to hear if people from HN would consider this a good idea or not.
Venice seemed to me a place that looks more like a massive historical theme park, while still authentic and very much in the right place, it did not strike me as normal that tourists would just find someone going about their day as an Instagram opportunity ("look that Venician is buying bread, how authentic! Let's crowd his house and take pictures!"). It didn't seem to me like a place where one is supposed to live, just supposed to go and see. A historical zoo would be a more outrageous way to put it. What can I say, I was probably part of the problem.
So I think it's a good thing any idea that makes these touristy places look like cities where people actually live, people with different interests other than what you'd expect. Just not sure if it's a profitable idea (are Italians very into Jazz?).
Jimbocho also has a lot of used book stores, I highly recommend checking the area out.
https://shop.specialprojects.jp/products/kissa-by-kissa-4th-...
It was probably less of a problem when you owned physical copies, but I don’t see it working (legally) with digital rights restrictions.
I worked as a barista over a decade ago and our cafe paid a not insignificant amount of special CDs that were allowed for public retail use (Muzak?)
people are loud and they mostly are just trendy up-market bars, rather than a place to enjoy the music.
staff in two of the places i visited in tokyo actively shushed you if you were too loud, which is actually a feature, to me
I stayed at one in Tokyo one night when I couldn't find accommodation. (Cherry blossom + uni graduation weekend = everything is booked.)
My experience living in Japan tells me it's probably just a coincidence. They often seem to stumble into these!