Japanese jazz has its own world. Where American jazz often pushed outward, Japan went inward, spacious recordings, long takes, and a quiet intensity that rewards deep listening. Here are five records from our Japanese collection that we keep coming back to.
1. Toki
Hidefumi Toki Quartet
Recorded in 1975 for the legendary Three Blind Mice label, this is the record on our shelf that best captures what Japanese jazz does differently. Toki's alto and soprano saxophone work is spare and searching — long, patient phrases over a quartet that includes guitarist Kazumi Watanabe. The title means “time” in Japanese, and the music earns it. Nothing is rushed.
2. One Tuesday in New York
Takashi Mizuhashi and His Friends
A Japanese bassist flies to New York, walks into A&R Studios, and records with Herbie Hancock. That’s the whole story — and it’s a great one. Recorded on February 22, 1977, the session places Mizuhashi’s deep, melodic bass at the centre, with Hancock on piano and electric piano across five tracks including “Blues for Gon-San” and “Cantaloupe Island.” A rare cross-Pacific meeting that still sounds effortless nearly fifty years on.
3. Yellow Carcass in the Blue
Kimiko Kasai with Kosuke Mine Quartet
Don’t let the title put you off — this is a beautiful record. Recorded live in the studio in 1971, it’s the only album Kimiko Kasai made as a leader for Three Blind Mice, and she makes it count. Her voice moves between straight jazz singing and something freer and more experimental, backed by Kosuke Mine’s soprano and alto sax. The title track, built on a composition by Masabumi Kikuchi with Kasai’s own English lyrics, is genuinely unlike anything else.
4. Orangutan
Isao Suzuki
A different side of Isao Suzuki — here he sets down the bass and leads on jazz cello, with guitarist Kazumi Watanabe alongside him. The combination of light strings and lead guitar creates a sound that’s harder to place and more interesting for it. One of the more unusual and quietly hypnotic records in the Japanese jazz canon.
5. Step!
Naosuke Miyamoto Sextet
A lesser-known title that deserves more attention. Naosuke Miyamoto leads a six-piece through a set that sits squarely in the hard bop tradition but with a distinctly Japanese feel — precise, purposeful, and deeply swinging. If you're building a Japanese jazz collection and want something beyond the obvious picks, this is the one to go for.
