Hitorizawa High School in Kanagawa appears to be a normal Japanese high school. Plentiful shoe-boxes jam the entryway, a sign-in sheet for visitors dangles alongside the nub of an old pencil and lists of rules hang accusingly in the wide and somewhat dusty halls. After classes, administrative staff work late while classrooms rest empty with the day's chalkboard lessons erased to dust.

Unlike other high schools, though, the late afternoon at Hitorizawa is not entirely quiet. Walking down the maze of corridors toward the outlying rooms, an unexpected beat grows louder and louder, finally cohering into the distinctive rhythm of "It Don't Mean a Thing." Turning another corner reveals huge, hand-cut letters, "J-A-Z-Z," covering the windows of the room farthest from the principal's office. Sliding open the door to this room, the sound of 50 16- and 17-year-olds playing big band jazz explodes into the hall.

They call themselves the Jazzy Kids, and instead of squatting in front of convenience stores or memorizing long lists of facts every afternoon, these high-school students are learning instrumental technique, the mysteries of rhythm and the pleasure of soloing. Every day at 4, they are in their seats ready to swing.