Top 10 Most Valuable Japanese Jazz Records on Vinyl: A Collector's Guide
For a long time the records on this list were a secret kept only in Japan. They were pressed in small numbers in the 1970s, sold to a home audience that took its jazz very seriously, and then remained more or less unheard everywhere else. A copy of Ryo Fukui's Scenery could be had for the price of a good dinner. And then the compilers arrived, YouTube did its work, and the rest of the world caught up all at once.
Today the most valuable Japanese jazz records, which twenty years ago sold for less than A$200, now change hands for more A$2,000. All originals by Japanese players, all made for a domestic market that could never have guessed what they would one day be worth. But then money always follows excellence, and music on these records is exceptional.
Here are ten of the most collected and valuable Japanese jazz records, ranked on what collectors actually paid, with the music, the pressing and the story behind each.
A word on the prices. They come from Discogs sales history for the original pressing of each record, converted from US dollars. A median can rest on only a handful of sales, and the presence of an obi strip or an insert can swing a figure wildly, so read them as a guide rather than an actual valuation.
Why Japanese jazz records are worth so much
Three things turn a 1970s Japanese jazz LP into serious money. Most were pressed in small runs on independent or private labels like Union, ALM and Tachibana, often in the hundreds rather than the thousands. They were sold complete, wrapped in an obi strip with a printed insert, and collectors now pay a premium for every piece of that being present. And they were found late. Outside Japan most of these records meant nothing until the BBE J Jazz compilations landed in 2018 and labels like We Release Jazz began reissuing them, by which point the originals were already scarce.
1. Hiroshi Suzuki, Cat
Trombonist Hiroshi Suzuki had left Tokyo for Las Vegas in 1971 to play with Buddy Rich, and Cat came out of a trip home. Over three days in October 1975, at Nippon Columbia's Daiichi studio, he cut five tracks of loose, sunlit jazz-funk with a band that reads like a roll call of the era: Takeru Muraoka on saxophone, Hiromasa Suzuki on keys, Kunimitsu Inaba on bass and Akira Ishikawa, who turns up again further down this list, on drums. The album closes with "Romance", a ballad that has since passed eleven million plays on YouTube and pulled a whole new audience toward the record.
Columbia released it in February 1976 (SP-7006) on maroon and silver labels. Promotional copies went out in a plain white and blue sleeve with no obi, so a complete stock copy is the one to chase. Clean originals now change hands for around A$2,760, with top copies nudging A$3,000, and only about 150 Discogs users own one against more than 4,000 who want it. If the music is what you are after, We Release Jazz gave Cat an official half-speed reissue in 2021 that has left the original's price untouched.
2. Mabumi Yamaguchi Quartet, Leeward
If Cat is the record everyone has heard of, Leeward is the one that quietly costs more. Saxophonist Mabumi Yamaguchi recorded it over a week in January 1978 with Ichiro Doi on piano and Fender Rhodes, Ikuo Sakurai on bass and Hideo Sekine on drums, and put it out on Union's Jazz Creation series (GU-5007). It runs from the slow, flanged Rhodes of "Dawn" to the jazz-funk samba of "Distant Thunder", modal and spiritual in places, and it has become close to impossible to find in its original pressing.
A top copy has sold for around A$4,830, the highest single sale on this list, and even a rough copy will cost you the better part of A$750. The good news for listeners is that the reissues are plentiful and well done, among them Le Très Jazz Club's 2020 edition and Union's own repress.
3. Akira Ishikawa & Count Buffaloes, Uganda
Drummer Akira Ishikawa, last heard behind the kit on Cat, made Uganda in early 1972 with guitarist Kimio Mizutani, percussionist Larry Sunaga and arranger Takeru Muraoka: four long tracks of heavy jazz-rock, psychedelia and African percussion. Toshiba issued it as a quadraphonic LP (TP-9520Z) in a box, and that is the catch. Box, obi and inserts almost never survived together.
Two copies currently for sale tell you everything about how paper moves a price. A rough copy with no obi is listed at around A$4,100; a near mint copy with everything present sits at around A$9,000. Mr Bongo put out a licensed reissue in 2022 if you want the music without the hunt.
4. Koichi Matsukaze Trio + Toshiyuki Daitoku, Earth Mother
We gave Earth Mother a full write-up in our Top 10 Rare and Obscure Jazz Albums guide, so this is the short version. Saxophonist and flautist Koichi Matsukaze leads Tamio Kawabata on bass and Ryojiro Furusawa on drums, with Toshiyuki Daitoku adding piano and Fender Rhodes, across a record that swings between hard bop and something more searching. It came out in February 1978 on ALM, catalogue number AL-5001, and that number is what you want to check, since it is how you tell an original from the reissues. Originals have sold for a median of around A$950 and as high as A$2,790. BBE's 2018 reissue, with a reproduction obi and translated notes, is the sensible way in.
5. Tohru Aizawa Quartet, Tachibana Vol. 1
The other record our earlier guide covered at length, and one of the great private-press stories in jazz. Pianist Tohru Aizawa and his quartet recorded it in March 1975 at a concert hall in Numata owned by a man named Ikujiroh Tachibana, who is said to have handed the finished LP out like a business card. Nobody is sure how many were pressed. The compiler Tony Higgins has put it at around 200, and Aizawa himself has suggested as few as 150.
What survives is a gatefold LP (TLP-1001) that now sells for a median of around A$930 and has reached about A$2,150, with auction results on Popsike running from A$490 to A$1,720. BBE's 2018 reissue is, again, the realistic option.
6. Ryo Fukui, Scenery
The most wanted Japanese jazz record there is, even if it is not quite the most expensive. Ryo Fukui taught himself piano in his twenties and recorded Scenery in 1976 at Yamaha Hall in Sapporo, with Satoshi Denpo on bass and Yoshinori Fukui on drums, for Trio's Nadja imprint. It is a piano trio record with real fire in it, and it reached a worldwide audience through YouTube years before any reissue.
Originals (Nadja PA-7148) sell for a median of around A$810 and up to A$2,500, and Japanese dealers are currently asking somewhere between A$1,290 and A$1,720 for clean first pressings. A decade ago the same copies sold at auction for A$320 to A$465, which tells you how fast this market has moved. The 2018 We Release Jazz reissue is everywhere and cheap by comparison.
7. Teruo Nakamura, Unicorn
The priciest Three Blind Mice original, and a favourite of rare-groove DJs. Bassist Teruo Nakamura took a band of Japanese and American players, saxophonist Steve Grossman among them, into a New York studio in mid 1973 and came out with a record that leans hard into jazz-funk and fusion. Originals (TBM-18) have sold for a median of around A$450 and as high as A$800.
One detail worth knowing: copies left on the shelf after a 1973 price rise were stickered with the new, higher price, so a price sticker on the obi is not the sign of a fake or a repress. A 2025 reissue cut by Bernie Grundman is on the market for a fraction of the cost.
8. Ryo Fukui, Mellow Dream
Fukui's second album, recorded live at Yamaha Hall in August 1977 with the same trio, is the gentler companion to Scenery. It holds "My Foolish Heart" and "What's New" alongside the harder-driving "Baron Potato Blues", and it carries much of the same quiet devotion from collectors. Originals (Trio PA-7182) sell for a median of around A$335 and up to A$750. Reissues are everywhere, from Solid's 2017 LP to the We Release Jazz edition and a run of coloured-vinyl variants.
9. Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio, Midnight Sugar
The record that tends to be a collector's first serious Japanese purchase, and the calling card of Three Blind Mice, the label Takeshi Fujii built in 1970 around an almost fanatical devotion to sound. Pianist Tsuyoshi Yamamoto cut it in a single day in March 1974 with Isoo Fukui on bass and Tetsujiro Obara on drums, and the blues of the title track and the ballad readings of "I'm a Fool to Want You" and "The Nearness of You" have kept it in demand ever since.
The first issue (TBM-23) prints the pianist's name as "Yamamoto Tsuyoshi" along the bottom of the cover, with later pressings reversing the order, so that line is your quick test for an original. They sell for a median of around A$245 and up to A$490. Reissues run from the late 1970s through to Sony Japan's 2025 edition.
10. Isao Suzuki, Blow Up
Isao Suzuki was, alongside Yamamoto, one of the two pillars of the Three Blind Mice catalogue, and Blow Up is his best-loved record for the label. Originals (TBM-15) sell for a median of around A$215 and as high as A$740.
A word of caution. TBM repressed the title within a couple of years, and even seasoned collectors argue over which pressing is the true first, so compare the obi and the dead-wax markings against a trusted photo before you pay an original's premium.
More Japanese jazz records worth knowing
Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media, Funky Stuff (Columbia, 1975). Saxophonist Jiro Inagaki's jazz-funk high point, arranged by pianist Hiromasa Suzuki, belongs in any conversation about valuable Japanese jazz-funk. It is off the ranking only because the sales data for the original is too old to trust. Nippon Columbia keeps it in print, so the music is easy to find.
Hideo Shiraki. The drummer led one of Japan's key hard bop groups of the late 1950s and 1960s, and his original LPs almost never surface. In Fiesta has sold for A$570 to A$790, and a single recorded sale of Plays Bossa Nova came in at around A$495. Too few sales to rank, but worth knowing if you ever see one in a bin.
Masahiko Togashi Quartet, We Now Create (Victor, 1969). A landmark of Japanese free jazz, with Masayuki Takayanagi on guitar and Motoharu Yoshizawa on bass. A median of around A$135 and a high near A$285. Historically vital, but not too expensive, yet. Reissued on vinyl in 2026.
Mikio Masuda, Mickey's Mouth (East Wind, 1976). Pianist Mikio Masuda's crossover fusion album, with Kohsuke Mine on soprano saxophone. Originals sell for a median of around A$165 and up to A$350, and Universal Japan reissued it in 2021. Some shops list the reissue as "Mickey's Mouse", which is simply an error.
What about Japanese pressings of Western jazz?
Japanese pressings of Blue Note, Prestige and the rest are loved for their quiet surfaces and careful packaging, and they are a big part of what we stock in our vintage Japanese pressings collection. A King or Toshiba pressing of a Blue Note classic is a way to own the music at a fraction of the cost of a US original.
What our research did not turn up is any Japanese pressing of a Western title selling for the kind of money on this list, which is why none made the ten. The more interesting thread is the records that only ever came out in Japan: Japan-only releases by the likes of Mal Waldron, Steve Lacy and Art Blakey, gathered in Tony Higgins and Mike Peden's book J Jazz: Free and Modern Jazz Albums from Japan 1954 to 1988. The traffic runs both ways, too. Part of the reason original Blue Notes command such extraordinary prices is the appetite of Japanese collectors.
How to spot an original
A few habits will save you money and heartache.
Learn the price codes. An original 1970s Japanese LP prints a single yen price on the obi, sleeve or label. Reissues from the 1990s on often show two prices, one with tax and one without, which is a quick way to catch a later pressing.
Read the dead wax. Discogs lists the runout markings for most of the records here, so compare what is scratched into the run-out groove with what is on the page before you pay.
Value the paper. An obi and an insert can change a price completely. The gap between the two copies of Uganda above, one with its obi and one without, was close to A$5,000.
Watch for the unofficial pressings. Discogs flags several of these titles as having bootleg reissues. If the label, catalogue number or credits do not match a documented release, walk away.
And if it is the music you are chasing rather than the object, buy the reissue. We Release Jazz, BBE, Mr Bongo and the Japanese labels have made nearly everything here available again, usually from the original tapes.
If any of this has set you digging, have a look through our vintage Japanese pressings and secondhand finds, or our contemporary jazz and Mr Bongo shelves for new reissues of the records above. Chasing a particular title? Get in touch and we will keep an eye out.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most valuable Japanese jazz record?
Going on Discogs sales history in October 2026, Hiroshi Suzuki's Cat (Columbia SP-7006, 1976) has the highest median sale price of any Japanese jazz original, at around A$2,760. Mabumi Yamaguchi's Leeward (Union GU-5007, 1978) holds the highest single recorded sale on this list, at around A$4,830.
Why are Japanese jazz pressings so valuable?
Many 1970s Japanese jazz albums were pressed in small quantities for a domestic market and never exported. When international collectors discovered them, mostly after 2015, there were very few copies to go round. Japanese pressings are also known for quiet vinyl and careful packaging, which adds to the demand.
What is an obi strip?
An obi is the paper band wrapped around the spine of a Japanese LP. It carries the title, price and often promotional text in Japanese. Collectors value originals with the obi intact far more highly than copies without it.
What is Three Blind Mice?
Three Blind Mice (TBM) is a Japanese jazz label founded in Tokyo in 1970 by producer Takeshi Fujii. It is known for exceptional recording quality, and its best-known albums include Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio's Midnight Sugar and Isao Suzuki's Blow Up.
What is the difference between Trio Records and Nadja?
Nadja was an imprint distributed by Trio Records, the record arm of the Trio electronics company (later Kenwood). Ryo Fukui's Scenery was released on Nadja and Mellow Dream on Trio, both in the Trio Jazz Mania series.
Are Japanese jazz reissues worth buying?
Yes, if you want to hear the music. Official reissues from We Release Jazz, BBE, Mr Bongo and Japanese labels such as Universal, Sony and Nippon Columbia are generally mastered from the original tapes and cost a small fraction of an original. Avoid releases that Discogs lists as unofficial.
Article published October 2026. Prices are Discogs sales history converted from US dollars at about A$1.43 and current as of 9 October 2026.
