Inside Japan’s Legendary Jazz Kissa Basie: Exit to Vintage Street

If you have spent any time travelling in or researching a trip to Japan, you’ve undoubtedly experienced or read about the country’s incredible friendliness, hospitality, and customer service.

After 13 years as a resident in the ’90s and early 2000s, and multiple visits back since moving to Canada in 2008, I’ve encountered welcomes and sincere open-heartedness on numerous occasions. Sometimes, though, Japan outdoes itself. A recent visit to Basie in Ichinoseki is just the latest standout example.

The Pilgrimage to Jazz Kissa Basie in Ichinoseki

Two years ago my friend Miles and I did a one-week tour of Tohoku visiting some of the better-known Jazz Kissa along the way as we worked our way north from Tokyo to Hakodate.

Our one regret was that Basie in Ichinoseki, one of Japan’s most famous kissas, was temporarily closed at the time as the owner battled health issues. We vowed that if Basie opened again we would make it there for full closure on the Tohoku kissa circle.

In April, the hoped-for reopening did finally occur, albeit with hours limited to weekends only (Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.). The reopening coincided with a feature article on Jazz Kissa and mastering the art of deep listening in National Geographic (the March 2026 international edition and April 2026 Japan edition), with Basie owner Shoji “Swifty” Sugawara prominently featured, including on the cover of the Japanese edition.

With a Tokyo visit planned for the second half of October, I contacted Miles to see if we could coordinate a meet-up (him flying in from Sydney), and he was able to schedule some business meetings that would allow for a weekend of shenanigans and that promised Basie pilgrimage.

Several weeks later, the day arrived, and off we went. An 8:45 a.m. shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo, arriving in Ichinoseki at 11:23 a.m. A 7:14 a.m. train for me to get across town to Tokyo Station from Yokohama in time to meet up, buy tickets, and catch said shinkansen (making my journey 4+ hours door-to-door). Arrival in Ichinoseki timed for us to reach Basie early, just in case there was a line-up (which we’d heard sometimes happens). No solid plan for the experience itself, but maybe two or three hours of listening time, and then the return trip to Tokyo.

Things would turn out quite differently than planned.

Basie is only a short walk from Ichinoseki Station, and we were there by 11:45. We were first. 75 minutes to wait until opening. Not a problem; we’d get the best seats in the house.

The security shutter on the front door was half open, so we knew staff were about and preparations for the day were underway inside. After about 10 minutes, a friendly lady came out to sweep the front path. “You know we only open at 1:00, right?” she said. “Yes,” we said. “We came early just in case there was a queue.” “Ah, there’s no queue now, but we usually fill up partway through the afternoon.”

The kind lady asked us where we were from and where we’d come from that day. Canada, Australia, and Tokyo. She seemed impressed that two foreigners had come this far to visit, and went inside.

Meeting Shoji “Swifty” Sugawara

A few minutes later, the shutter was opened up all the way from the inside, and out strolled Swifty, the owner. I recognized him immediately from the National Geographic article and cover (I had my Japanese copy with me in my backpack for him to sign). “Please come in!” he said in Japanese, gesturing us inside. “Please come and sit at my table…” he said, ushering us further to a round table at which he appeared to have been working minutes before. It wasn’t even noon yet.

Not surprisingly, Swifty turned out to be an absolute gem. Quick to laugh and to crack a joke. Smart as a tack. Anyone who can put together a kissa like Basie (including custom-building the speakers) is bound to have a good head on his shoulders. He asked us to write our names on a piece of paper for him (neither of us had brought business cards), and on reading them—Miles and Eric—he erupted in guffaws of laughter. “Miles Davis and Eric Dolphy! Sugoi!” (Sugoi = amazing). The next two records he played were by none other than Miles Davis and Eric Dolphy (I’m not a huge Dolphy fan, but have to say he sounded amazing, and I may even seek out the record played—In Europe, Vol. 1).

By about 12:45, Basie was packed and stayed that way for the first couple of hours before the crowd thinned slightly. Some patrons were obviously regulars, while others were pilgrims like ourselves. Many came over to greet Swifty—the regulars for a quick, friendly hello, and pilgrims to bow, give a name card, and offer thanks and amazement for a wonderful experience. Through the day, he collected a good pile of cards, including the Miles and Eric paper from earlier in the day.

Basie is large-ish for a jazz kissa, with 22 seats in the listening area and around 12 in the side space in front of the bar and audio booth, where we sat for most of the afternoon. Sound is incredible, even from the side area outside the sweet spot where Miles and I sat most of the afternoon; we only extricated ourselves into the listening space for a side of Frank Sinatra Live at the Sands at around 4:30, where the full quality of the system was revealed. The detail, punch, and power were truly astounding, and it felt like Frank was truly in the room with us.

Six Hours of Jazz, Vinyl, and Japanese Hospitality

Through the afternoon, we listened, chatted, ate, and drank. Swifty got up every 20 minutes or so to change the record. On arrival, I ordered a whisky highball and Miles a beer (it takes a big occasion for me to drink before noon, but this was that; Miles too). For the rest of the afternoon, neither of us ordered a drink—as one emptied, another miraculously appeared, served by one of two of the cutest, kindest, most friendly women you’ll ever meet (including the one who greeted us at the start). Drinks, cream puffs, popcorn, mixed nuts, sliced pears, chocolate, and other items arrived and were refilled like clockwork. Aside from changing records, they did all the legwork of making the place tick while Swifty held court and surveyed his realm.

The walls behind the bar and half of the opposite wall feature shelf after shelf of custom record storage. We asked how many records he had, and Swifty didn’t have a definitive number. Another guest at the table offered a tonnage estimate; not sure where that came from, but we calculated it out to around 10,000 discs, which seemed about right. Miles asked whether Swifty still buys new music, to which he quipped, “Sometimes, but I’d really rather be selling than buying.” At 84, that’s a reasonable answer.

I wish I’d gotten the 10,000-disc fellow’s name, but I’m going to call him Okayama-san for now (if he reads this, I hope he’ll give me a name to edit into the narrative). We chatted for a bit, and it turns out this was his fifth or sixth trip to Basie since it reopened six months ago. He leaves Okayama on Shikoku Island on a Friday after work, drives over 1,000 km overnight, spends Saturday and Sunday afternoons soaking up the Basie atmosphere, and drives home again overnight, arriving in time to attend the office Monday morning. Kinda put my four-hours-each-way trip to shame!

Planning a Visit to Jazz Kissa Basie

Not everyone is as hardcore as Okayama-san, nor do they want to do seven hours on a train for four hours in Basie. For anyone wanting to visit and make a weekend of it, Ichinoseki is the second-largest city in Iwate, with approximately 112,000 people. The economy is largely agricultural, but there are some points of interest, which include the Geibikei River Gorge, Ichinoseki Onsenkyo (hot spring village), and the Iwate Kura beer microbrewery and Sekinoichi sake brewery.

Part way through the afternoon we were joined by a long time patron and friend of Swifty’s who we discovered was director/photographer/restauranteur Tetsuya Hoshino, maker of Jazz Café Basie: The Ballad of Swifty (Japanese: ジャズ喫茶ベイシー Swiftyの譚詩), a documentary completed in 2019 and featured at several film festivals since then. There has been no wide release to date, but I’m hopeful I can see it one day. Hoshino-san, also super friendly, hinted that something could perhaps be arranged if I ever come to his restaurant, Popina Garance in Minami-Azabu in Tokyo.

Something to try and schedule when I’m in Japan again at the end of the year?

If you’re wondering about the names Swifty and Basie, wonder no more. Sugawara-san was a drummer in younger days (hence the drum set placed permanently in front of the speakers in the listening area). In one of his meetings with Count Basie, who he quite obviously idolized and still does (enough to name his space for him), Basie said something like, “My current drummer’s nickname is Speedy and we can’t have two of them, so I’ll call you Swifty.” The name stuck.

A little later in the day, Swifty showed me a picture of his home system (this after Miles and I had shared pictures of our humble setups). Two speakers that looked to be JBL Olympus, separated by a big wooden cabinet. “Apart from the speakers, everything is the same as here in the store,” he told me. “When I find something I like, I don’t need anything else.” At that, he pulled out a leather pen roll case containing four Montblanc fountain pens, all identical to the one out on the table. I’m somewhat similar, with three Sansui amps, two Denon turntables, and two pairs of ADS and three pairs of KLH speakers.

Mrs. Audiolove always jokes that when I find a shirt, shoes, or pants I like, I’ll buy multiples in different colours. “The only thing I want variety in is women and records,” Swifty joked as that topic closed. Or perhaps not a joke…

It was only on the train home later, as I looked through pictures of the day, that I noticed he had at least 31 NOS (new-old-stock) Shure V15 Type III cartridges stacked in the nooks and crannies between pieces of equipment in his audio booth. Also spare amplifiers, SME tonearms, speakers and other equipment on various shelves around the space. This guy really does play favourites!

Inside Basie’s Legendary Custom JBL Sound System

Basie opened in 1970, in a building owned by Swifty’s parents. The venue features an all-JBL amplification and speaker system, with speakers built, tweaked, moved, customized and refined by Swifty himself, including the construction of what many refer to as refrigerator-sized (and I consider commercial-retail-freezer-sized) speaker cabinets.

The system is designed to produce concert-level volumes while maintaining coherence and instrumental separation. The now seemingly out-of-commission Live at Basie Project listed the equipment as follows:

• Turntable: Linn Sondek LP12 with SME 3009 Series II Improved arm and Shure V15 Type III cartridge.
• Preamp: JBL SG520
• Electronic Crossover: JBL 5232
• Power Amplifier: JBL SE400S
• Speakers: Three-way design with JBL2220B bass drivers, JBL 375 compression drivers with 537-512 horn lens assembly for mids, and JBL 075 tweeters, all installed in custom enclosures.

Swifty’s customizations over the decades have resulted in a system unique to Basie that could not be replicated elsewhere, even with the same componentry. The sound is dense and loud, with clear, non-fatiguing highs. Bass is firm and visceral. The engaging, horn-loaded midrange brings voices and horns to life with realistic pace and great instrumental definition, even at high volumes. National Geographic describes Basie as having perhaps Japan’s best jazz-kissa sound system.

Basie will make you fall in love with big band jazz, with or without vocals (if you aren’t already in love with those genres). Over the course of the afternoon, we heard sides from Frank Sinatra (as mentioned) and Count Basie (naturally), and both were revelatory. We also heard ’50s and ’60s Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Benny Carter, the Great Jazz Trio (with Hank Jones, Richard Davis, and Elvin Jones), The Poll Winners, Nina Simone (unreal!), Lee Morgan’s Live at the Lighthouse, and Dexter Gordon (unbelievable on those speakers!). No matter the genre or group size, everything sang!

A Day Nobody Wanted to End

Like the last few pages of a book you don’t want to end, the time to retrace our steps southward approached as the clock passed 5:30. Swifty, Hoshino-san, and some other customers who had gravitated over from the listening area seemed in no mood for the day to end. There was talk of an izakaya and dinner, which, though enticing, Miles and I had to decline.

Sandwiches appeared out of nowhere for us to eat hurriedly before making the walk to the station. With some trepidation (after six hours of non-stop drinks and a steady flow of snacks), we asked for our bill. The number presented to us by the kind staff in no way represented what we felt we owed, but our objections were met simply with: “You were the master’s guest, and that’s the number.” With great appreciation, we paid and were ready to go.

At just after 6:00, we reluctantly said our goodbyes and made our exit. Swifty followed us out and thanked us for visiting. After some pleasantries, we turned to walk away, and he went back in to his other guests.

Other than “Wow!” and “What a great day!” said over and over, Miles and I didn’t talk much on the way back to the station, nor for much of the bullet train ride home. We were both a bit overwhelmed and had some processing to do. I’m still processing, but have come down to earth and am full of gratitude for a once-in-a-lifetime day.

Yes, Japan, you outdid yourself again.

Related Reading:

• Tokyo One-Day Jazz Kissa Challenge: Exit To Vintage Street
• A Tohoku Jazz Kissa Adventure (Part 2): Exit To Vintage Street
• A Tohoku Jazz Kissa Adventure (Part 3): Exit To Vintage Street