Pithecanthropus Erectus

This is as old school a jazz bar as you will find in the Tokyo metro area. 直立猿人 (Chokuritsu Enjin = Pithecanthropus Erectus) opened in 1976 and certainly shows its age. Old concert posters, dusty album covers, tattered seats. The master recently retired due to poor health and turned the joint over to a new manager who maintains the steady flow of old vinyl on the turntable. Jaki Byard, Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan on the night I was there. There’s about 2500 records in the cabinets that line the back wall of the bar.

There are faded, torn food menus on the wall but don’t try ordering anything, they stopped serving food years ago. Amazingly, the bartender told me that they still sometimes cram in 2 or 3 musicians for live music; as you can see from the photos on the web page those must be very intimate performances.

Chokuritsu Enjin is the kind of jazz bar that simply doesn’t exist anymore anywhere in the world, EXCEPT for Japan. I recommend the trek out to distant, gritty Kamata for a few drinks here, followed by some yakitori at one of the numerous izakaya on ‘Bourbon Road’ along the tracks. Photos here at tokyojazzjoints.com