Jakarta puts its own spin on Japan's listening bars

JAKARTA -- On a weekend evening in South Jakarta, the first thing a visitor notices at Bar Kotak is not the cocktails or the music, but the hum of conversation. Guests talk to one another instead of constantly checking their smartphones. A portrait of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, overlooks the room as old-school jazz drifts through speakers tuned to complement, rather than dominate, the space.