
Tokyo's audiophile venues (2016) - PokemonNoGo
https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2724
======
apecat
Of course the Japanese had this concept figured out.

I do this thing with a small group of friends, where we drive like 3-4 grands
worth of speakers and room correction DSP (Genelec and DSpeaker) to a summer
cottage every 6-8 weeks or so. The place, a big log cabin, happens to have
wonderful acoustics.

And we just sit back, mostly STFU and listen to a selection of music for an
entire evening, DJ:ed by me (I accept requests), and we eat good food. There's
no background music, when we cook, eat or clean, because we want to rest our
ears for the main sessions.

The next day, we drive back, I check everything we listened to from Last.fm,
and I create a Spotify playlist of the event, which we all save.

Most people look at me like I’m insane when I describe this activity.

~~~
jqbx_jason
That sounds awesome! If you're interested it would be cool if you put on an
event for us all on JQBX [1] one day :) shoot me an email if you want and I
can set it up. [https://www.jqbx.fm](https://www.jqbx.fm)

~~~
erikig
Kudos on jqbx.fm - I was so sad when turntable.fm met its quiet demise and its
nice to see a solid alternative with a vibrant community

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Nav_Panel
My favorite bar in Tokyo (in the whole world?) was a place like this, called
Track Bar in the Ebisu neighborhood. $8 seating charge, no photos or talking
above the music allowed, then you can sit at the bar and drink inexpensive but
quality whiskey all night and listen to whatever the bartenders/DJs were
playing. Lots of rare cuts from the 60s thru the 00s. I also ended up having
nice conversations with plenty of other patrons. Most were there for the music
as well, a mix of locals and tourists, very friendly vibe. I wish I had a
comparable place in NYC.

As a side note, the secret to drinking in Japan (or anywhere), known to
alcoholics but not to many regular folks, is starting or finishing your night
with a little bottle of vitamin C drink. Helps your liver digest the alcohol.
I started buying Emergen-C packets when I got back to the States and it's been
a game-changer. Routine colds also seem to be less intense...

~~~
teachrdan
Is there smoking at the bar? That's been my Kryptonite when it comes to
visiting cool bars in Japan.

~~~
Nav_Panel
Of course! And fancy brass ashtrays too!

~~~
ink_13
I think you misunderstand. That's a dealbreaker, not an upside.

~~~
dmix
For some people...

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dominicr
Somewhat related, my brother is a musician (playing what you might call
experimental music) and says Japan is an amazing place to play as the audience
pays close attention to what you're doing and remains quiet whilst you're
playing. It seems the culture there is that it's music lovers going to these
venues for the primary purpose of experiencing the music. Whereas in a lot of
places I've been people are going to hang out with friends and the music is
secondary.

~~~
qzxvwt
that has less to do with japan and more to do with the fact that niche music
doesn’t attract laypeople. you can find the same kinds of shows all over the
united states for example

~~~
mikepurvis
For the local music scene in my city (Kitchener ON), if you want a quiet,
respectful, focused environment in which to enjoy, skip the pub sets and go to
the house shows instead. Almost all the local artists play them, and there are
a lot that are pseudo-public. Like, they're not advertised openly, so you need
to ask the artist to find out, but you also don't necessarily need to know the
hosts— it's very much a friends-of-friends type affair, and in my experience
very welcoming.

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supernova87a
I find it really fascinating how small local decisions like how many square
feet a store can be, influence what kind of companies form, and thus, how good
your local breweries, cafes, bookstores, restaurants, groceries are.

Like they hint at in the article, I guess small store footprints make it not
worth large "faceless" corporations opening shop and therefore the stores that
do pop up are run out of more passion for the thing (some, at least).

Traveling in EU a bunch, I was always interested why in Italy, for example,
small restaurants are on every residential block run by essentially mom and
pops, and still surviving, serving up reasonably good food. Versus this kind
of restaurant has largely been displaced (if not number, at least in
consciousness) in any of our US large cities by corporate backed entities.

Versus if your zoning allows big box 100,000 sq ft stores, you're just by
nature going to get something a little more bland.

~~~
bsder
> Traveling in EU a bunch, I was always interested why in Italy, for example,
> small restaurants are on every residential block run by essentially mom and
> pops, and still surviving, serving up reasonably good food. Versus this kind
> of restaurant has largely been displaced (if not number, at least in
> consciousness) in any of our US large cities by corporate backed entities.

Population density.

Thinking about one of the restaurants I was in in Paris, it had seats for
about 40 people (tightly packed!) and remained filled for about 4 hours and we
turned about every 2 hours. So, about 80-100 people a night roughly 6 nights a
week.

So, call it 400 people per week being dinner customers of that restaurant to
keep it alive.

That's roughly 200 apartments or houses nearby needed to keep that restaurant
alive.

You don't need many of those restaurants before you exceed the local suburban
density in the US.

In Paris, that's probably exceeded by the number of people on a couple blocks.

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thde
RA is doing some nice documentaries of a few of those bars.

One from Shelter three weeks ago:
[https://youtu.be/qe5W7zvw10I](https://youtu.be/qe5W7zvw10I)

And one from a Bar called Bridge, released yesterday:
[https://youtu.be/vs2KF6a7Duw](https://youtu.be/vs2KF6a7Duw)

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PepperAssassin
I visit Japan every year and spend a lot of time at these venues and at the
so-called Jazz kissas (ジャズ喫茶).

These places are amazing. Usually operated by older Japanese women and
gentlemen, they have walls lined with records - many of which are out of
print. They include obscure, but excellent, Japanese jazz of which there is
plenty. The patrons sit quietly and focus on the music while sipping whiskey
and/or smoking a cigarette. It is interesting to not that most of these places
include detailed specs of their audio setups on their business cards.

My friends and I often have listening parties at our lodge in the woods near
Yosemite. My Jazz playlist for any who wish to enjoy. Please listen on
shuffle, and no skipping!

[https://open.spotify.com/user/pgoonghang/playlist/54Zec8Roc9...](https://open.spotify.com/user/pgoonghang/playlist/54Zec8Roc93sywnGUmqDQX?si=sdohZSg0Q5-2kvRTxPZMLQ)

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disqard
Thank you for sharing! I remember reading about this years ago, and it's nice
to rediscover this article.

> "The aim from the beginning was to play non-dance music, whether it's jazz,
> prog-rock, experimental and avant-garde," Shimizu says. "Nobody understood
> this kind of listening party at first, but we just continued doing it. Then
> a few years later, some younger DJs began to follow our lead, and they
> started similar parties at the other venues."

------
Deimorz
(from 2016)

There was a good article a couple of months ago about some of these Japanese-
style listening bars opening in America:
[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/dining/vinyl-records-
list...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/dining/vinyl-records-listening-
bar-kissaten.html)

~~~
WarDores
One just opened near me, but you can't go to just enjoy the music because most
patrons see it as "just another bar" where they can loudly gab with their
coworkers, sometimes even yelling to one-up each other. It's super annoying
that they're not getting the purpose of it, because I was excited when it
opened. Now I might as well just go to the sports bar because I'm less
frustrated.

~~~
magduf
>where they can loudly gab with their coworkers, sometimes even yelling to
one-up each other.

That's just typical American culture. Americans are very loud.

~~~
WarDores
Makes going anywhere there's going to be more than a handful of people
incredibly tiring. That's probably the introvert in me talking, but it's got
to be possible to be an extrovert without giving every outing a frat party
vibe.

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jalessio
A venue like this opened recently in Oakland, CA (which I haven't had a chance
to visit yet).

[https://www.barshiru.com/](https://www.barshiru.com/)

> The Bay Area’s first hi-fi vinyl listening bar. We focus on playing records
> in their entirety on a fully analog sound system in a space that was built
> with acoustics as a first priority. Our aim is to provide every guest with a
> unique and intimate experience that allows for both intentional listening
> and conversation at normal volumes. If you like good music, good drinks and
> good company, come through, we’d love to see you!

~~~
djstein
thanks for this. does anyone know of any kinds of bars like this in the bay or
sf area?

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lukey_q
I used this list as a starting point when I went to Japan last year, ended up
visiting a few of the ones on the list and a couple of other "music bars" as
well, including a hip-hop/funk/soul bar in Shinjuku ("Bar Box" I think it was
called) one in Osaka dedicated to 80s rock and hair metal, "FREAK." If nothing
else it's worth it to listen to one of these hi-fi soundsystems if you (like
me) spend your time listening to compressed audio from a streaming service on
a normal pair of headphones... the difference is night and day.

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SmellyGeekBoy
Just adding my experience. We found ourselves in one of these places in
Kanazawa. There was only us and another couple in there. Of course there was
plenty of music that I'd never heard before but very much enjoyed, but Sting's
"Englishman In New York" always instantly takes me back there.

~~~
agent008t
How did you end up in Kanazawa? Is it worth exploring?

I would love to see more of Japan (have been to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Sapporo,
visited lake Toya, Hakone, Himeji castle), but unsure where to go / what to
see next. Any ideas?

~~~
weatherperson
long time lurker, just created my account to reply to your comment!

I just got back from a Japan tour so it was my first time in the country, but
Kanazawa was one of my favorite parts of the trip that I wasn't expecting! The
city has a nice blend of history as well as a decent downtown area. I think it
is an authentic destination and seems like more of a spot for Japanese
tourists than for the usual gaijin. All of the schoolchildren I saw tried to
speak English with me and said "hello" which would never happen in the big
cities! I also saw the smallest bars and restaurants I have ever seen in my
life, with room for 4 people, in the back streets of the downtown area.

There were many good things to see in the city. The Kenroku-en Garden was a
huge and beautiful park that you can meander about, that's on top of a small
mountain. It is also connected to Kanazawa Castle which had the largest lawn I
ever sat on. I also enjoyed the Museum of Contemporary art. The fish market is
also famous, as is the Higashi Chaya District.

I can't recommend Kanazawa enough! Anthony Bourdain also visits Kanazawa in
the beginning of the episode "Japan with Masa" on Netflix if you want a
glimpse of the city.

~~~
roobeast
Second this, since 2015 the Hokuriku Shinkansen gets you there easily and the
garden and castle alone are worth the trip. If you can make it sometime during
the cherry blossoms it is insane.

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sanjams
Cool article. I was fortunate enough to experience some places similar to
these first hand during a visit to Tokyo. One of the most impressive things to
me was the bartenders’ uncanny ability to pick the perfect next song. In a sea
of old, unidentifiable records, they were able to pick out exactly which
record and subsequent song they wanted. And the timing of their transitions
between songs...incredible. All while serving you drinks.

~~~
OstrichGlue
That sounds amazing! I'm taking at trip to Japan in the coming months. Would
you mind sharing names of any of the places?

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thomas
If you are in/around NYC I highly recommend Public Records for a top-notch
audio experience and relaxed atmosphere:
[https://thevinylfactory.com/news/new-audiophile-bar-
opening-...](https://thevinylfactory.com/news/new-audiophile-bar-opening-nyc-
public-records/)

~~~
Nav_Panel
Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out!

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__sy__
I'd like to add one to this list: La Crema, in Taipei (克立瑪咖啡). It's
technically not in Japan, but the concept is exactly the same. The owner has
run the place for 30+ years, and he's fanatical about two things: coffee and
his custom-built tube amp audio system. Worth a visit if you are ever in
Taipei.

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mlacks
I went to a place like this in Sasebo. Very cozy venue, warm atmosphere, and
quiet conversations amongst the jazz in the background. I didn’t realize there
was a term for “Jazz kissa”, so thank you to the author for providing a
stepping stone to research more pleasant experiences like this.

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AChamarthy
Beautiful Concept.

Recent article about In Sheep's Clothing and Gold Line in LA:
[https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-hi-
fi-b...](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-hi-fi-
bars-20181004-story.html)

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jedimastert
If anyone knows of something like this in the Boston area, do let me know. I'd
love to see it.

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Svperstar
A bar that plays nothing but experimental and drone sounds amazing.

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JayJee
What kind of freak stores records spine-in?

~~~
erikig
There are always people on the other side of the rack...(in my freakish mind)

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Audiophile65
Ooooo I'm jealous

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Audiophile65
Oooooooo I'm jealous

