Jazz Spot Intro

Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo


This little club – which gives away a quarter of its floor space to a grand piano – is a gathering spot for local musicians who come for the nearly nightly jam sessions (which run all night on Saturdays). No cover charge unless there's a special performance; one drink minimum order (¥1000, then ¥500 per drink thereafter).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo attractions

1. Astro Boy Mural

0.15 MILES

Japan's most celebrated manga artist Tezuka Osamu lived most of his life in Takadanobaba and the neighbourhood couldn't be prouder. In front of the…

2. Myōnichikan

0.94 MILES

Lucky are the girls who attended the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed 'School of the Free Spirit' (Jiyū Gakuen; 自由学園). Built in 1921, Myōnichikan functioned as…

3. Zōshigaya-reien

1.04 MILES

On the outskirts of Ikebukuro and opened in 1875, Zōshigaya-reien is the final resting place of many influential writers and artists of the modern era …

4. Ikebukuro Life Safety Learning Center

1.04 MILES

This public safety centre has a room that simulates a real earthquake and it's not for the faint of heart (literally): what you experience is a level…

5. St Mary's Cathedral Tokyo

1.08 MILES

Rising nearly 40m high and glistening in the sun, this stainless-steel contemporary cathedral was completed in 1955. It's the work of Japan's foremost…

6. Chinzan-sō

1.09 MILES

This strolling garden was once the estate of a Meiji-era statesman and is now the grounds of a luxury hotel, though it's open to the public. The shaded…

7. Godzilla Head

1.25 MILES

Godzilla, a portmanteau of the Japanese words for gorilla (gorira) and whale (kujira), is king of the kaijū (strange beasts) that ruled Japanese popular…

8. Golden Gai

1.3 MILES

Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a…