How can I describe this place? It's small, dark and old; owner Otsuka-san was surly and uncommunicative the first three times I went; it's expensive and the seats are uncomfortable..yet I quickly fell in love with Shiramuren. There is a certain kind of jazz-bar cool that I cannot convey in words; think of any Japanese film from the 1960s, where the main character was downing whiskey and peanuts in a dark joint called something like "Bar Luna", with the bright sign hanging out the front window..this is Shiramuren for me.
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Otsuka-san is unique, even for a Tokyo jazz bar owner (you`ll notice right away that he only has one arm.) He's owned the bar for more than twenty years so is by now used to making drinks and changing cds (cds only in Shiramuren). My first time there "No pictures" was all he said when I tried my best polite Japanese, asking for permission. By the third visit he warmed up a bit and though he went on a bit of a rant saying that "Jazz was dead in Tokyo, and young people don't know the music, etc etc" he seemed to appreciate the new customers. He also was very open about recommending other bars around town.

He has a very diverse collection there behind the bar. The Frank Wess cd he played (tenor sax quartet + harp) my first time there really blew me away. After that was an electric klezmer cd, then some down-home Jimmy Smith.. Sunday evenings at Shiramuren used to be 'free jazz night', but it doesn't always happen these days. Otsuka-san will probably mix in some experimental stuff anyways even if it's not an official 'free jazz night' so be prepared for it.

I am sucker for 1960s jazz nostalgia and have also watched way too many Japanese movies from that era..it was a given that Shiramuren would be one of my favorite jazz bars in Tokyo.