Edible insects, jazz double entendres and some unreal Osaka joints in this first of a four-parter where we spend three hectic days in Kansai. 

Thanks to Brian of Grooves Ahead for sound assistance and to Louie Lastic for our music track.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes Pt.1

Disagreement is the name of the game in this second instalment of a four-parter over three hectic days in Kansai.


Thanks as ever to Brian of Grooves Ahead for sound assistance and to Louie Lastic for our music track.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes Pt.2

All editing prudence goes to the wall as we fall down a deep, deep Kansai-shaped hole in this feature-length episode which is the third of a four-parter...strap in! 

Thanks as ever to Brian of Grooves Ahead for his assistance with sound.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes Pt.3

We take a more free jazz approach to this episode as we waffle unashamedly for about half an hour and reflect on what's been a truly incredible year for the project. James continues to reframe the English language in his own image.

Thanks as ever to Brian of Grooves Ahead for his patience and assistance.

A Bag of Bricks

We are back! James & Philip have a catch-up of all things kissa before diving into new adventures.

Thanks as ever to Brian of Grooves Ahead for his assistance with sound.

Can we Eigakan? Yes we can!

A mixed bag in Miyazaki with windswept Sonny Rollins photos to die for and a rather melancholic end to the visit, before Philip sets off on an epic one day journey north. 

Thanks as ever to Brian of Grooves Ahead for his assistance with sound.

Miyazaki Mission Possible Pt.2

It's May 2024, and after an Onomichi underwater detour, we find ourselves in nighttime Hiroshima, where Mother Teresa and Charles Mingus meet in perfect harmony.

Now That's What I Call Episode 78!

A final couple of belters in Okayama and one of the weirder interactions we've ever had in a joint. And James defeats a fence.

Groovy Exchanges

Despite zero documentation, we reminisce on two lovely Tokyo joints to almost round off 2024's adventures.

Thank as ever to Brian for sound assistance.

Fun for the Ears

Some cheap Prosecco and a little bad language to mark the TENTH anniversary of the project with an Instagram Live.

Ten Long Years (IG Live!)

No passion fruit or lychee for you, but we close out 2024's shenanigans with three gorgeous joints – old and new – in Philip's old neighbourhood. Long live Shimokita!

Girlz N Boyz N The Hood

In addition to some bonus DIY content, three absolutely banging Tokyo joints to get us back on the trail for May 2025! 

Fertile Crescent

Philip defies the bookmaker's odds by avoiding the mother of all meltdowns in Yokohama, while James watches on, and invents a name for a kissa that no one will ever steal. Ever.

Camateur Dramatics

And just like that…deepest Chiba reveals some well-hidden treasures and Philip battles with mixed messages, having solved his camdram.

Marilyn Jazz Quotient

If you ever wondered what Sandra Bullock, Colonel Sanders, Mr T.Pott and Taylor Swift have in common, Chiba has the answer.

Jazz Is My Battery

An evening of two halves that starts on a slow boat to...a hectic finish with one new joint and two very old friends. And accidental meetings with actual friends! 

And Then I Saw Her Face

Topless TJJ with some of Sapporo's finest.

Northern Exposure Pt.1

A marathon episode for a marathon day hunting kissa up north, where it's far from grim. Epic joints!

Northern Exposure Pt.2

Reunited in Kansai we hit the trail with a shaky start for nearly not quite three joints, well sort of three...

Blueberry Submuffins

James continues to offend people with mixed metaphors and cultural pitfalls before we end up whiling the evening away in an absolute gem of a spot to cap a long first day back in Osaka.

Double-Edged Coin

We are California dreamin’ on this episode until Philip’s ideal world is shattered by some devastating breaking news. Was it merely a mirage?

Third Egg of the Day Drives Coltrane Away

Good stories told badly as we take bickering to the level of an Olympic sport, and get deep into the true nature of crockery with the truly ying and yang of Kyoto jazz joints.

One mug, and adult hot chocolate in a cup (not mug)

In Episode 96, after a subterranean trip to Japan's bubble-economy yeatrs, we survive our very own Squid Game on the way to see an old friend  – and all the mixed emotions that stirs up.

Another Bricks in The Wall b/w The Bird Has Flown

Mostly talk about bananas, with a jazz kissa soundtrack.

NOT a tourist attraction

A double tap on the new and improved Incus and the usual chasm of James’s pop culture knowledge, followed by a few old and familiar friends, as our May 2025  adventures come to an end.

Back in Black

Philip's map-reading skills desert him before an awkward intro at Eagle. We also discuss two incredible Okinawa joints as the project finally expands to the fifth of Japan's major islands. 

Ryukyu Rhythms

Episode 1: Our first tentative foray into joint (pun intended) podcasting to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Tokyo Jazz Joints project, which began on March 27th 2015.

Follow the link to hear us chat a little bit about how the project started, some of the highlights so far, and stories behind the photos￼. Check out YouTube too if you want a slideshow with some images from the project, and of the joints we discuss - should you get bored just listening to￼ us. Win-win!

Feel free to reach out to us through the website on www.tokyojazzjoints.com or on social media (@tokyojazzjoints) and let us know if you’re interested in hearing more￼. There’s lots more to tell.  

Get over to www.tokyojazzjoints.com to see the pictures in better definition.

Apologies in advance for any little glitches, and for the number of ‘like’ ‘you know’ ‘kind of’ and ‘sort of’s!￼

Philip (www.philiparneill.com)  and  James (www.tokyojazzsite.com)

Five Long Years!

Episode 2: This week as we start the podcast proper, we're talking about what jazz music means to Japan, how jazz kissa came about, what to expect and what not to expect inside, and how best to navigate the sometimes daunting and tricky prospect of heading into one for a drink!

Japanese jazz 'kissa': what's all the fuss about?

Episode 43: Record cleaning dentists, curried gyoza, Guinness World Records and upright standing man (not James obviously). In the final part of our Tokyo Jazz Joints Awards we finally get to our our all-time favourite joint, not an easy task with so many to choose from. We have a go anyway just for the hell of it, peppered with the usual slick preparation and professionalism you have now come to expect. 

Thanks as always to Brian of groovesahead.com for audio assistance and Louie Lastic for our theme music.

Drum fill excerpt by Steve Lynam (on Drumeo) on YouTube: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXtFc522mRo

Ultimate TJJ

An Irishman and American walk into a bar...Two obsessed foreigners share the stories behind their pseudo-religious pilgrimage around the unique beauty of Japan's hidden world of jazz bars and coffee houses, documented on www.tokyojazzjoints.com and in the Tokyo Jazz Joints photobook published in 2023.

TOKYO JAZZ JOINTS

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