Believer

Believer.jpeg
Kanamechō, Toshima City, Tokyo, Japan

A lovely recent addition to the jazz bar scene in Tokyo (with the perfect slogan (Music Starting From Jazz), Believer is located near Kanemacho, just a bit north form the giant Ikebukuro station.

It’s a fairly small bar, just one long counter with 10 seats, Believer was opened in August 2024 right next to very old (and now closed) jazz kissa Damien. Believer’s young looking master is actually a 22-year shop owner veteran, having run a yakitori shop before diving into the music bar world, which he said had ‘long been a dream’.

He has a nice turntable set up right near the door, and often goes track to track DJ style with the LPs, rather than playing a full A or B side (though that’s less likely when the place is crowded as he runs it himself). There’s a huge collection of vinyl behind the bar, a lot of fusion but he also played a deep Keith Jarrett album while I was there, along with some swinging Freddie Hubbard.

Believer is open until 5 AM so is the perfect final stop on music bar hop of north Tokyo, and is only a 15-min walk from the classic Paper Moon in Ikebukuro.

Size
10
Food
No
Directions

Short walk Kanemachi Station on the Chikatetsu Yurakucho subway line.

Date published
Oct 2025
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