Strings is a friendly jazz bar in Kichijoji, a popular neighborhood just east of Tokyo’s main center known for its beautiful park, shopping, dining, and rich cultural lifestyle. Kichijoji, besides being an attractive neighborhood in its own right, also hosts the popular and well-known jazz club Sometime, a frequent destination for new and old jazz fans alike. Yet Strings, located a bit off the beaten path, offers its own style and charm for jazz lovers.
Figure 1: Yuichi Narita on solo piano at Strings in April 2023
As noted on their homepage, Strings is a Live Bar & Italian Restaurant and serves up quality jazz and Italian food with simple, easygoing grace. This bar is modestly tiny with several seats directly up against the grand piano and a few tables and bar seats around the rest of the room.
Although the room seems small, the talented artists who play here are top-notch. Sometimes, this bar can be completely full with preset reservations (or even nearly empty at other unfortunate times). But, when the jazz is cooking, the pizza comes out piping hot, and the decanter of wine arrives, it is a perfect way to spend an evening listening to real handcrafted jazz music in Tokyo.
Figure 2: Tenerezza Trio with Maiko (violin), Makiyo Sakai (flute), and Sayaka Kishi (piano) at Strings in March 2023
In addition to jazz, Brazilian music, and stringed instruments including violin are also often featured.
Figure 3: Yoshihiko Naya (piano) Quartet with Nami Kano (alto sax), Masayuki Tawarayama (bass), and Takehiro Shimizu (drums) at Strings in May 2013
Figure 4: Botan Duo with Akiko Suda (vocals) and Yuichi Narita (piano) at Strings in February 2017
Figure 5: Emiko Voice and Yuji Yajima (bass) at Strings in January 2017
Figure 6: Miyuki Moriya (sax) with Rin Heitetsu (piano) and Yutaka Yoshida (bass) at Strings in February 2013
Figure 7: Josei (piano) Trio with Noriaki Akita (bass) and Sohnosuke Imaizumi (drums) at Strings in December 2012
Figure 8: Takako Yamada (piano) Trio with Koji Yasuda (bass) and Gaku Hasegawa (drums) at Strings in May 2014
Figure 9: Rie Taguchi (vocals) and Shin Kamimura (bass) at Strings in September 2013
Figure 10: Emiko Voice, Koichi Sato (piano), and Tomoka Abe (guest vocalist) at Strings in August 2015
Figure 11: Emiko Voice and Yoshihiko Naya (piano) at Strings in June 2015
Figure 12: Harumi Nomoto (piano) Trio with Ryoji Orihara (bass) and Sohnosuke Imaizumi (drums) at Strings in October 2013
Figure 13: Mina Yamano (vocals) and Kazuhiko Obata (guitar) at Strings in July 2013
Figure 14: Tomoka Miwa (vocals) and Yuta Kaneko (organ) at Strings in March 2013
Figure 15: Yuji Kawamoto (bass) Trio with Taihei Asakawa (piano) and Manabu Hashimoto (drums) at Strings in December 2012
Figure 16: Trispace Trio with Yuichi Hayashi (piano), Morihiro Omura (bass), and Yoshitaka Yamashita (drums) at Strings in October 2012
Figure 17: Mai Petty at Strings in July 2012
Figure 18: Sayaka Kishi (piano) session with Seiji Harakawa (sax) and Koji Yamashita (bass) at Strings in June 2012
Figure 19: Yuichiro Hiraoka (guitar) and Heitetsu Rin (piano) at Strings in November 2011
Figure 20: Megumi Kotomi (vocals), Yuichiro Hiraoka (guitar), and Heitetsu Rin (piano) at Strings in November 2011
Figure 21: Emiko Voice at Strings in October 2011
Figure 22: Mizuki Maruoka (piano) Trio at Strings in October 2010
Figure 23: Mizuki Maruoka (piano) Trio at Strings in October 2010
Figure 24: Sawaka Hyodo (piano) Trio at Strings in October 2010
Figure 25: Sawaka Hyodo (piano) Trio at Strings in October 2010
Figure 26: Bar area at Strings
Figure 27: Broccoli tuna at Strings
Figure 28: Pizza at Strings
Figure 29: Mushrooms saute at Strings
Figure 30: Strings logo on the inside wall
Figure 31: An old sign for Strings
Figure 32: The outside sign for Strings
Figure 33: Welcome to Strings