Jazz Bar Gugan, Kanda

I wasn’t overjoyed about how I came to know Gugan – a colleague I was drinking with insisted that we had to hit another spot after I thought we were finished dinner and drinking, and his favorite was right around the corner. It’s straightforward and a nice enough place (which I don’t mean in a […]

Blue Drag, Takadanobaba

Takadanobaba, as we previously learned, is a funky sort of student-low end town, with tons of ramen and other down-market specialties. On the other hand, it also features several live music venues, and I went to one of them on Saturday. It’s well worth checking out if you’re at all into the style of music […]

Artist Cafe, Korakuen

This sounds like a great idea – live jazz every night with stunning views from the 43rd floor of Tokyo Dome Hotel. In practice, it’s a little less impressive than that… The decor and menu are a little on the family-restaurant side. I know they’d be pizzed to read that, but it’s true. The names […]

Body and Soul, Minami Aoyama

Not strictly food. In fact, not very food at all. In fact, the food looks kinda crappy. But they have food, and plenty of drinks, and this is a nice thing in a tiny basement jazz club in out-of-the way Aoyama. Out-of-the-way means out-of-the-way. They have a big neon sign, but due to the vagaries […]