If you’re not particularly interested in jazz as a genre, you might just think of it as music from abroad.
In fact, here in Japan, we’ve produced many world-class players, and countless remarkable classic albums have been released.
This time, we’re presenting a selection of essential “Wa-Jazz” masterpieces by Japanese musicians.
While focusing on timeless classics from the ’60s and ’70s, the lineup also turns its attention to works released in the ’90s and 2000s.
Please enjoy jazz music with a distinctly Japanese flavor—something a little different from overseas jazz!
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Recommendation of Wa-Jazz: Masterpieces of Japanese Jazz – One Must-Listen Pick (1–10)
Theme of Lupin the ThirdŌno Yūji
Let’s just go ahead and say it: this is BGM etched into the DNA of the Japanese people, transcending the bounds of jazz music and anime soundtracks! Composed by Yuji Ohno—Japan’s pride as a jazz pianist and a prolific composer of countless classics—Lupin the Third’s Theme is an immortal masterpiece that even those who’ve never seen the series have surely heard somewhere at least once.
The Lupin the Third Original Soundtrack introduced here is the soundtrack for the second TV series of Lupin the Third.
The original edition was released in 1978 and reached No.
8 on the Oricon charts.
Beyond the theme song, it’s packed with stylish, mood-rich jazz-to-funk in Ohno’s signature style, and it even includes character voice lines unique to anime soundtracks, which adds to the fun.
The pop, AOR-tinged track Lovin’ You (Lucky), sung by Tommy Snyder—also famous as the drummer for Godiego—has a great vibe, too.
Starting your journey into Japanese jazz with this album sounds like an excellent choice, doesn’t it?
Aqua MarineSuzuki Isao
If you’re looking for elements like dandyism, hard-boiled cool, and sensuality in jazz music, this is the definitive must-hear: a towering landmark of 1970s Japanese jazz! Let me introduce Isao Suzuki’s 1973 release Blow Up.
Known as a jazz bassist and double bassist—and still going strong as a fully active player even into his late 80s in the 2020s—Suzuki leads a powerhouse trio here with pianist Kunihiko Sugano and drummer George Ohtsuka.
The album, which won Swing Journal’s 1973 Jazz Disc Award for Best Japanese Jazz, is enshrined in jazz history as a true masterpiece, offering thrilling, dramatic, and forceful ensemble playing from a bass-led trio.
There are also tracks featuring twin basses with bassist Takashi Mizuhashi, making this essential listening for anyone aspiring to be a jazz bassist.
As an aside, the album is highly regarded not only for its stellar performances but also for its refined jacket design and superb sound quality.
If possible, enjoy it on the highest-quality playback system you can—and ideally own it on vinyl so you can savor the excellence of the jacket as well!
Green SleevesTakayanagi Masayuki
Masayuki Takayanagi—a guitarist and avant-garde musician—is an indispensable figure in the history of Japanese jazz and, by extension, free jazz.
He turned professional at the young age of 19, and through the activities of the music collective New Century Music Research Institute, which was based at the Ginza chanson café Ginpari, he helped bring talents like Yosuke Yamashita and Terumasa Hino to wider recognition.
The Ginpari Session discussed here is a rare and valuable recording that captures a masterful performance by Takayanagi, whose highly challenging musical style has earned respect from cutting-edge international musicians such as Jim O’Rourke.
The session took place from late at night on June 26, 1963 into the early morning of the following day, but it was apparently never intended for release as an audio recording.
It was taped privately by a member of the audience and, intriguingly, was only issued as a record nearly a decade later in 1972.
In the 1960s, jazz was experiencing a boom in so-called hard bop, or funky jazz, and knowing that musical experiments like this were happening in the background is essential for anyone looking to dig deeper into Wa-jazz (Japanese jazz).
I recommend this album especially to listeners who have already explored a range of jazz styles.
XYZUehara Hiromi
Even if you’re not very familiar with jazz as a genre, chances are you’ve at least heard the name Hiromi Uehara or seen her on TV.
A child prodigy who displayed precocious talent from an early age, Uehara is well-versed not only in jazz but also in classical music, and her outstanding piano technique has earned raves from renowned musicians around the world.
Truly worthy of being called a genius, she’s a crossover artist whose very presence transcends genre.
She has released many works, making it hard to single out just one signature album, but here I’d like to introduce Another Mind, her landmark world debut.
Comprised entirely of original compositions written by Uehara, with no covers of standards—an admirably purist approach—this album received high acclaim, including the 2004 (18th) Japan Gold Disc Award for Jazz Album of the Year.
Beyond her virtuosic playing at the age of 23, the dynamism and sense of drive in these tracks should appeal not only to jazz listeners but also to rock fans and lovers of progressive music.
WataraseMoriyama Takeo
Takeo Moriyama is a great jazz drummer whose name is etched in the history of Japanese jazz.
He gained worldwide recognition as a member of the Yosuke Yamashita Trio—formed by jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita—which developed a form of free jazz distinguished by overwhelming performance energy and unmatched individuality.
After leaving the group, he thrived as the leader of the Takeo Moriyama Quartet.
Although there was a period when he nearly stopped performing, after resuming his activities he energetically undertook overseas tours, and in 2002 he received multiple accolades, including the Excellence Award in the Agency for Cultural Affairs Arts Festival’s Record Division, cementing a brilliant career.
Moriyama’s 1981 album “Smile” is considered a masterpiece of Wa-Jazz (Japanese jazz), and it is also known as the first recording of “Watarase,” one of pianist Fumio Itabashi’s finest compositions; Itabashi is featured on the album as a member.
The record opens with the commanding, nearly 12-minute epic “Exchange,” followed by the evocatively Japanese lyricism of the aforementioned “Watarase,” and closes with “Good Bye,” a dandy yet mellow track whose bittersweet romanticism is heart-wrenching.
Every track is a superb piece and performance.
It’s a highly recommended album that showcases a different side of Moriyama from his free-jazz–leading days: a bona fide, modern, straight-ahead jazz statement.
Like MilesHino Terumasa
Since the true essence of jazz music lies in live performance, there are naturally many classic live albums.
One of them is Hino-ology, a live album released in 1969 by Terumasa Hino—Japan’s world-renowned trumpeter, adored for his handsome looks and stylish fashion, and still going strong in the 2020s.
The album captures, as if vacuum-sealed, the raw heat of Japanese jazz at the time, and it became a huge hit and an undisputed masterpiece.
Featuring a lineup of top-tier players who were at the cutting edge of the jazz scene, the record documents a concert held at Yamaha Hall in Ginza on July 31 of that year.
As the opening track title Like Miles suggests, it reflects the influence of Miles Davis’s transition into his electric period from the late ’60s.
Yet the set stands out for its overwhelming performance chops and exceptional songwriting, making it an essential and peerless classic for understanding the history of Japanese jazz.
It also serves as a valuable document of Hino in his twenties—before he relocated overseas in the 1970s, ventured into fusion, and explored crossover sounds—when he was a rising young superstar of Japan’s jazz scene.
If you’re interested in Japanese jazz, this is an album you really should hear at least once.
California ShowerWatanabe Sadao
Japanese fusion—often called “Wa-Fusion” or “Wa-mono”—is a genre beloved by club-generation music fans as well.
The album featured here, California Shower, was the breakout work of saxophonist/flutist Sadao Watanabe, known as “Nabesada,” whose sophisticated, world-class fusion sound became a massive hit not only in Japan but across the globe.
Leading the scene since the 1950s, Watanabe began developing a sound in the late 1960s that broke free from conventional jazz.
California Shower, backed by West Coast musicians led by the renowned pianist and film composer Dave Grusin, is an epoch-making album that, as noted, brought “Wa-Fusion” to worldwide attention.
Starting with the title track—famous as the commercial song for Shiseido’s men’s cosmetics brand “Bravas”—the album is packed with stylish, catchy melodies that stick in your ear, showcasing Watanabe’s gifts as a melodist.
If you still feel a bit intimidated by straight-ahead modern jazz in the classic four-beat style, why not start by listening to crossover works like this one to train your “jazz ears?”