Japanese jazz (Japanese: 日本のジャズ, Nihon no jazu) is jazz played by Japanese musicians, jazz connected to Japan or Japanese culture, or both. The term often refers to the history of jazz in Japan, which has the largest proportion of jazz fans in the world, according to some estimates. Jazz was first introduced in Japan in the 1910s through transpacific ocean liners, where Filipino musicians took influences from jazz, with the Philippines being an American colony at the time. Following the music recording industry's rise in the 1920s, the lyrics of popular jazz records like "The Sheik of Araby" and "My Blue Heaven" were translated into Japanese. Jazz was associated with native counterparts to flappers and dandies in Japan, often being played in dance halls. Although considered "enemy music" in Japan during World War II, due to its American roots, the genre was far too popular for the complete ban of the music to be viable, and many disobeyed the state mandated destruction of jazz records. Following the surrender of Japan in the second World War, there was a large demand for entertainment for American troops, and jazz was particularly popular. By the 1970s, the Japanese economic miracle paved way for Japanese jazz musicians to achieve international fame, along with new musical genres such as city pop, kankyō ongaku, and japanese folk music. Japanese jazz musicians also began to evolve past Blue Note mimicry, and instead experimented with free jazz, fusion funk, and bebop, among others. This furthered the distinct sound of Japanese jazz. During the 1980s, digital music technology began to influence the Japanese jazz scene.
In present-day Japan, jazz has become more of an alternative genre; it is no longer as popular, but still retains the largest proportion of jazz fans in the world. Jazu Kissa (literally jazz café), dedicated spaces where aficionados gather to listen to recorded jazz, appeared in the 1950s and 60s around Japan. A phenomenon unique to the country, roughly 600 Jazu Kissa are scattered around the nation in present-day Japan, and there are even Jazu Kissa where conversation is prohibited. Recently, there has also been an increase in Jazu Kissa in rural areas. Famous contemporary Japanese jazz musicians include Hiromi Uehara, Kyoto Jazz Massive, United Future Organization, Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, and Fox Capture Plan, among others.
Attempts at fusing jazz with Japanese culture in the United States are instead commonly termed Asian-American jazz.
History of jazz in Japan
Jazz music first became popular in Japan in the 1920s, following visits by bands from both America and the Philippines, where American popular music had been introduced by the occupying forces. The Hatano Jazz Band is sometimes described as the first Japanese jazz band, although they were primarily a dance band. The band, which was created in 1912 by graduates from Tokyo Music School, absorbed and performed American dance music after traveling to San Francisco, but their music did not claim to feature jazz improvisation.
Local jazz practice, built around the performances of visiting Filipinos, began to emerge in the early 1920s, most notably in the prosperous entertainment districts of Osaka and Kobe. By 1924, the city of Osaka already boasted twenty dance halls, which gave many Japanese-born musicians an opportunity to play jazz professionally. Trumpeter Fumio Nanri (1910–1975) was the first of these Japanese jazz performers to gain international acclaim for his playing style. In 1929 Nanri traveled to Shanghai, where he played with American jazz pianist Teddy Weatherford, and in 1932 he toured in the United States. After his return to Japan, Nanri made several recordings with his band Hot Peppers, an American-style swing band.
The "Americanness" and mass appeal of early jazz as dance music gave reason for concern among the conservative Japanese elite, and in 1927 Osaka municipal officials issued ordinances that forced the dance halls to close. A large number of young musicians switched to the jazz scene in Tokyo, where some found employment in the house jazz orchestras of the major recording companies.