Listening to Jazz in Japan

 Craig Mod, in an essay about restaurants and coffeeshops that have specific rules -- no phones, no books, , etc. relates this picture of the church-like atmosphere of 1950s Jazz kissa in Japan:

I’ve visited dozens of jazz kissa all around Japan. When they opened in the 50s and 60s, records were prohibitively expensive, and American musicians touring Japan were rare. The only way to really listen to overseas jazz, was at their shops. There was an information arbitrage happening, a kind of translation between abroad and local, and the jazz kissa was the intermediary broker. So they had rules, too. No talking (you’re there to listen). They had little pads of paper on which you could request an album. (The music was so loud you couldn’t issue a request using your voice, anyway.) If you made a music request and went to the bathroom while it was playing, you were never allowed to make another request. Obviously, back then there was no Spotify, no Apple Music. The rules were modeled in alignment with their purpose, elevated their purpose, created a kind of superlative in-shop presence, tasting that burnt coffee, hearing Charlie Parker for the first time, having your mind blown. The matchbooks would sometimes have lines printed on them for you to take notes about what you heard that day (this was some deadly serious business, listening to jazz).