Yokohama's love affair with jazz first blossomed when the West was Roarin' in the 1920s. Back then, ocean liners were bringing passengers and ships' bands from all over the world, and Japan's maritime gateway was a major port of call for steamers plying between the famed entertainment hubs of Shanghai and Manila. When these ships' crews got shore leave, they would head for the bars and clubs to drink and dance . . . and make music.
In this city renowned for its international outlook and individualist flair, the universal, improvisational music that is jazz struck a chord from the start. Even in those early days, the prestigious Gaiety Theater, more attuned to Shakespeare and Puccini than Louis Armstrong, moved quickly to stage dances to the music of popular jazz bands.
So it is with good reason that nowadays, Yokohama's jazz fans claim their city as the hometown of jazz in Japan -- a claim confirmed by its thriving jazz club scene and its hosting of two of the country's largest jazz festivals.
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