SUNTORY HALL
Asia's most decorated vineyard-terrace concert hall, opened 1986. Karajan called it 'a jewel box of sound'. Anchor of the Japanese classical music scene and the acoustic blueprint for every modern Asian concert hall that followed.
SAPPORO CONCERT HALL KITARA
Vineyard-terrace masterpiece in Nakajima Park, Sapporo. Nagata Acoustics-designed in 1997, with terraced blocks that throw sound across every seat. The lobby's full glass wall makes the maples part of the concert.
BAR MARTHA
Tokyo's most uncompromising listening bar. House rules forbid loud talking, photos, and phones. The Klipschorn speakers and Garrard 301 turntable are treated like instruments.
WOMB
Four-floor Shibuya club, since 1999. Asia's largest mirror ball on the main floor, a Funktion-One rig, 25 years of being the techno-tourist's first stop in Tokyo.
TESHIMA ART MUSEUM
Ryue Nishizawa's concrete shell on Teshima Island in the Seto Inland Sea. Rei Naito's water installation produces a near-imperceptible drip-and-flow soundscape. The room is the music.
FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL
Three days at the Naeba ski resort in the Echigo mountains. The Green Stage backs onto a river, forest stages wind through actual woodland. Asia's flagship destination festival since 1997.
BLUE NOTE TOKYO
The Aoyama branch of New York's Blue Note since 1988. Low-ceilinged, candle-lit, two-set nights with players who would headline anywhere. Tokyo's best jazz venue by quiet consensus.