The legendary live music club Blue Note has become the gold standard for jazz enthusiasts across the world. Most recently, the Blue Note Jazz Festival in Japan brought rhythm and soul to Tokyo’s Ariake Arena. Headlined by Norah Jones and Ne-Yo, the festival is the latest chapter in a story that began in a small basement club in Greenwich Village and grew into a global institution.
Now in its third installment in Tokyo, the Blue Note Jazz Festival in Japan balances scale with intimacy, honoring the legacy of the Blue Note name while reminding audiences that jazz thrives most when shared live.
Blue Note in Japan: From Greenwich Village to Minami-Aoyama
The story of Blue Note begins in New York City, where the original Blue Note Jazz Club opened in 1981. It became an instant landmark in the artistic hub of Greenwich Village, celebrated for bringing jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan and Ray Charles into a setting that felt both elevated and approachable. Its success set the stage for international expansion.
In November 1988, the Blue Note brand crossed the Pacific to open Blue Note Tokyo on Minami-Aoyama’s Antique Street. At the time, few venues in Japan offered the chance to experience world-class jazz up close. The Tokyo club inherited the New York ethos: a blend of intimacy and excellence, where fans could enjoy fine dining alongside unforgettable performances.
By 1998, the Tokyo branch moved into a larger space nearby, expanding its capacity while preserving the closeness between artists and audiences. Over the years, it has hosted legends such as Tony Bennett, Herbie Hancock and countless others. In 2022, Blue Note Place opened in Ebisu, expanding the jazz scene in Tokyo and making it more approachable than ever in the modern day.
©︎ Blue Note JAZZ FESTIVAL in JAPAN 2025
The Birth of the Blue Note Jazz Festival
The Blue Note Jazz Festival launched in New York in 2011, conceived as a way to extend the club’s reach beyond its walls. Japan embraced the idea in 2015, debuting the festival at Yokohama’s Red Brick Warehouse with a lineup that included Jeff Beck and Pat Metheny. A year later, Earth, Wind & Fire and George Benson headlined the second edition.
The Blue Note Jazz Festival returned to Japan in 2024 for its third rendition at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo with a bold, eclectic lineup featuring Nas, Parliament Funkadelic, Chicago and Marcus Miller. This revival is a proof that jazz festivals can thrive in a large-scale format while still channeling the Blue Note spirit.
©︎ Blue Note JAZZ FESTIVAL in JAPAN 2025
Blue Note Now: A Festival Shaping Culture
The festival in 2025 continued this momentum, with artists like Norah Jones, whose voice has carried jazz-infused pop into the mainstream, Ne-Yo, who shaped much of the R&B landscape of the 2000s, and Take 6, a 10-time Grammy Award-winning a cappella group synonymous with vocal brilliance. Alongside newer voices like Valerie June, the festival demonstrates jazz’s elasticity: rooted in tradition, but constantly reinventing itself.
For some, the grand scale of Ariake Arena might seem removed from the cozy tables and candlelight of Blue Note Tokyo, but the through line is clear. Whether in a 280-seat club in Minami-Aoyama or a 10,000-seat arena by Tokyo Bay, Blue Note’s mission endures: to bring audiences closer to the music, and to remind them that jazz is not a relic of the past but a living, breathing force.
