Paper Moon

A jazz bar for the hardcore aficionado, Paper Moon is located on the fourth floor of a dilapidated building in Ikebukuro near Rikkyo University. Open since 1975, it’s dark, dusty, and makes no attempt to provide decoration beyond a few old concert posters near the entrance. Yet it’s one of the best jazz bar experiences in town, totally authentic and at ease with itself. Owner Yamamoto-san has run the joint since it opened and is a warm, friendly host, happy to talk music for hours. His huge vinyl collection greets you as you walk in, covering all genres, including a lot of Japanese jazz (a rarity in the country’s mostly foreign-focused jazz bars). Paper Moon is as close as it gets to being a Showa-era jazz dive in the 1970s, all seats at the L-shaped counter, all ears tuned in to the music. For serious fans that makes it a bit of heaven.