The project is quite simply a labour of love. I can’t track the exact origin of when the idea came about, but I suspect that it was a visit several years ago to Hello Dolly in Kyoto that planted the seed. I decided to start at the incredible Pithecanthropus Erectus in Kamata, a rundown suburb in southern Tokyo, and having photographed that one place, the project was born. We never imagined back then that 3 years later we would have racked up 160 joints right across the country. The purpose of the project is simple: to document photographically Japan’s myriad collection of jazz bars and coffee shops before they disappear forever. The entire project has been self-funded, and we have paid for every drink, train ticket, plane ticket and hotel bill ourselves. Ultimately, if we can add a remaining 50 joints (approximately) to the project, we would like to then publish the project in a large scale photo book format.
The project is a visual chronicle of a unique world, and to date it has documented 160 individual jazz bars and kissaten.








































