Japan Matters For America: Sax and Sake - Japanese Jazz in Midtown Manhattan

“Japan is one of the largest markets for jazz and has produced many great jazz musicians such as Toshiko Akiyoshi, Ryo Fukui, and Takuya Kuroda. New York City is one of the most storied jazz cities in the world, where in the clubs of Harlem, pioneers such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk pushed the music to new heights. Today, Japanese jazz manifests itself in New York in two clubs I recently visited, Tomi Jazz and Jazz at Kitano. . .”

About the Author

X.M. Griffiths worked as an ALT at a Tokyo Metropolitan High School from 2014-2016 through the JET Program. He studies graduate business and filmmaking at New York University.

This article is part of a guest-contributor partnership between the East-West Center in Washington and USJETAA in which former JET participants contribute articles relating to their experiences in Japan.