ちぐさ, Jazz cafe in Nogechō, Japan.
Chigusa is a jazz cafe in Nogechō, Yokohama, that plays vinyl records through dedicated audio equipment in a wooden interior lined with jazz photographs and memorabilia. The shelves run from floor to ceiling and hold a collection built up over many decades of regular visits and donations.
The cafe opened in 1933, making it one of the oldest continuously running jazz cafes in Japan. After World War II, Nogechō became a meeting point for music fans, and this place was one of the main spots where new American recordings were heard for the first time locally.
Chigusa is one of the few places in Japan where listening to records is treated as a purpose in itself, not as background sound. Guests sit quietly, pay attention to the music, and speak in low voices, which gives the place a tone unlike most cafes.
The cafe is a short walk from Sakuragicho Station and easy to reach on foot. Since listening to music is the main point of a visit, it helps to arrive without rushing and be ready to sit still for a while.
The cafe survived a fire in the 1940s partly because the record collection was moved to safety before the building burned. Many of those same records are still in the cafe today and are still played for guests.
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