Jazz Kissa Basie, Ichinoseki: is it open, how to get there

Status: Check before you go

Opens only some days, usually weekend afternoons, and closes without notice. There are no official hours: check before you travel.

Know before you go

The practical bit

Status: Opens some weekend afternoons since late 2025; closes without notice. There is no official website or posted schedule.
Getting there: Jinushimachi 7-17, Ichinoseki. About 10 minutes' walk from JR Ichinoseki Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen. No car park.
Hours: Not official: 2026 listings and visitors give Saturday and Sunday, 13:00 to 17:00.
House rules: Listen rather than talk: the records are played loud. Visitors in 2026 report cash only, with coffee about ¥1,000.

Checked on 15 October 2026 against the venue's own site. Times, prices and routes change: confirm before you travel.

In the room

The experience

Basie is a jazz kissa in a converted family storehouse in Ichinoseki, about two hours north of Tokyo by Shinkansen. Shoji Sugawara opened it in June 1970 and built its sound around a pair of speakers he made himself in the 1970s, which National Geographic describes as refrigerator-sized. Count Basie visited in 1980, and the room is the subject of the 2020 documentary Jazz Kissa Basie: Swifty's Ballad. The records are played loud, as if the band were in the room, so this is a place to listen rather than talk. It closed for several years after 2020 and has opened again on some weekend afternoons since late 2025. Make the trip knowing the door may be shut.

Insider tip

Walk in knowing

Go on a weekend afternoon, arrive just after 13:00, bring cash, and have a plan B in Ichinoseki in case the door is shut.

Why it fits

Why it is in the atlas

The jazz kissa as a pilgrimage: one owner, one room, a sound system built by hand, and more than fifty years of listening as a ritual.

Plan the trip

When to go, hours, getting there

Best time to go

Weekend afternoons from about 13:00, when visitors in 2026 have found it open. Closures are unannounced; it was shut over Golden Week in 2026.

Hours

No official hours. 2026 listings and visit reports give Saturday and Sunday, 13:00 to 17:00. Check before you travel.

Getting there

Jinushimachi 7-17, Ichinoseki, Iwate. About 10 minutes' walk from JR Ichinoseki Station, on the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo (roughly two to two and a half hours). No car park.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Is Jazz Kissa Basie open?

Some days. It closed after 2020 and has opened on some weekend afternoons since late 2025, according to 2026 visit reports. There are no official hours and closures are unannounced, so check before you travel.

Where is Jazz Kissa Basie?

Jinushimachi 7-17, Ichinoseki, Iwate, Japan, about 10 minutes' walk from JR Ichinoseki Station.

How do you get to Basie from Tokyo?

Take the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Ichinoseki, roughly two to two and a half hours on a direct train, then walk about 10 minutes from the station.

Can you talk at Basie?

Not really. The records are played loud, and Ichinoseki's own visitor guide asks people to treat the music as if it were a live performance.

Why is Basie famous?

Shoji Sugawara has run it since 1970 around speakers he built himself. Count Basie visited in 1980, and the 2020 documentary Jazz Kissa Basie: Swifty's Ballad is about the room.

On the atlas