Senzoku University is different from other universities in Japan. Huge black cases jam the hallways; five parallel lines are etched onto the whiteboards; lecterns hold stereo systems; and many classrooms are empty but for a few metal stands or the occasional grand piano. It's all down to the study of one thing: jazz.

Long known as a top school for classical and traditional Japanese school, Senzoku University opened its own jazz department five years ago. While most universities have jazz circles, and private jazz schools abound, this full-time, degree-awarding program in Japan is a rarity. With handpicked Tokyo musicians (Yosuke Yamashita, Kazumi Watanabe and Shigeharu Mukai, for starters) and a curriculum based on the famed Berklee College of Music, Senzoku started teaching formally what established musicians have had to pick up through jam sessions, long apprenticeships or experimentation.

Jazz pianist and Senzoku teacher Masaaki Imaiizumi invited me to his classes at Senzoku to see what aspiring jazz musicians need to learn. His classes were complex, focused and practical, condensing a vast amount of jazz theory and directed practice into one short class period. Unlike the stereotypical Japanese college students snoozing or e-mailing on their cell phones at the back of an auditorium, Senzoku students were serious and attentive. This glimpse of budding jazz musicians offered unique insight into just how difficult it is to learn jazz.