One night in a Japanese jazz kissa changed music listening for me forever. My love for the jazz piano trio began in the most unique way possible. Every now and then, a listening session turns into ...

In May 2025 Japan welcomed an estimated 3.693 million visitors, marking a surge in global fascination with the country—up 125% (more than double!) compared to a decade ago. Many come for the exquisite ...

The history of travel literature is a long one, appearing shortly after Europeans started making trips across the continent and across the world. The form is a combination of diary writing, ...

With this year's International Jazz Day concert taking place in Osaka, an East Asian historian (a musician himself) describes how the music came... If you've witnessed a headlining performance from ...

“Japanese-influenced listening bars” may be the latest, greatest trend in US bar culture, but their high-end sound systems and even more highfalutin aesthetic draw from a much more humble practice: ...

In part 1 of 2 episodes exploring Japan’s audio scene, vintage audio columnist, Eric Pye discusses Jazz Kissa and Japanese vinyl pressings. In September 2023, vintage columnist Eric Pye (@audioloveyyc ...

On April 6, in honor of this year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival, the Freer Gallery of Art will host the third after-hours event in our new Freer Film Fridays series. The evening will include food ...

A detail from the cover of Minoru Muraoka's collaboration with Herbie Mann, Gagaku and Beyond. It took some time to count the stamps on my passports, but it turns out I've averaged one trip to Japan ...

For a few answers, and a primer on Japanese jazz history, I gave professor E. Taylor Atkins a call. An East Asian historian at Northern Illinois University and an amateur musician, he's the author of ...