Eagle is really the prototypical jazz cafe. It opened in 1967 in Yotsuya, right down the street from Sofia University so four decades worth of college students have passed through the place along with the afternoon, sleepy salarymen and older jazz freaks. Its got all the usual jazz cafe bits (magazine reading material, fliers, expensive and barely tolerable coffee) and a massive record collection. In the afternoons they put up a sign on the door requesting you to be quiet while inside, so it's truly a place for people who want to dig the music.

Last time I was there I got lucky as they played Grant Green's"Matador" album on Blue Note, then Eric Dolphy`s "Live at the Five Spot" with Booker Little on trumpet. These sounded like completely different records to the ones I play at home on my tiny system! The music in the Eagle is kept loud and the sound system is crystal clear, so hearing old records in there is a whole new experience. It's completely worth blowing off work for the afternoon to spend a few hours in there immersed in music.