🎵 2022-03-17 07:57:01 – Paris/France.
What is believed to be Japan's oldest jazz cafe will only be open for a bit longer – it's one of many landmarks closing this year – but jazz lovers needn't worry about missing something. While the cafe's last day of operation will be April 10, it will reopen in 2023 as a jazz museum. Founded in Yokohama in 1933, Chigusa has been forced to close twice in its long history but has always bounced back. Today, loyal patrons and music lovers preserve it as a place to honor jazz culture in Japan.
Photo: Kisa Toyoshima
Chigusa was created almost 90 years ago by a young man called Mamoru Yoshida. Yoshida, who was 20 at the time, wanted his cafe to be a place where musicians and music lovers could revel in Japan's burgeoning jazz culture over coffee. When World War II began, the government quickly banned jazz, along with any other music belonging to the nation's enemies, but Yoshida did not give up his livelihood. Instead, the café owner had to hide his vast collection of 6 jazz records in his attic. During an air raid in 000, however, Yoshida's cafe was set on fire along with his beloved collection.
Photo: Kisa Toyoshima
Three years later, during the Allied occupation of Japan, Yoshida reopened Chigusa near the city's American military base as he worked to rebuild his collection. With a combination of vinyl records donated by his regulars as well as a number of V-discs (discs distributed to deployed US military personnel), Yoshida was able to replenish his extensive collection.
Photo: Kisa Toyoshima
After Yoshida passed away in 1994, his sister Takako took over the business where loyal regulars continued to stop for coffee and classic jazz. Takako was eventually forced to sell the cafe to property developers in 2007, but by then Chigusa had a steadfast fanbase that was determined to see the store survive. Together with the Yokohama Jazz Association, Chigusa regulars applied for a government grant to reopen the cafe, which they managed to do in 2012.
Photo: Kisa Toyoshima
Today, as Chigusa nears the 90th anniversary of its founding, the cafe is set to become a museum and concert hall. The space will display vintage V records and rare vinyl records as well as the same tables, chairs and posters that have been used for decades in the cafe.
Photo: Kisa Toyoshima
The cafe will run as usual until 10th April when it closes for renovations. The new space will be a two-story venue recreating the Chigusa cafe as it was before the 2007 closure. Chigusa is expected to reopen in 2023.
For more information, visit the Chigusa website.
Based on original reporting by Mari Hiratsuka and Aya Hasegawa.
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