Must-see nightlife in Kansai

With its worn leather couches, big wooden communal table and industrial fittings, this is a little slice of Brooklyn in Osaka and the perfect pit stop…

Beer Belly is run by Osaka's best microbrewery, Minoh Beer, and features Minoh's award-winning classics and seasonal offerings (pints from ¥930). Pick up…

With a waterfall and a grand, spiralling staircase out front, the Misono Building (built c 1956) was once a symbol of the high life. It's now fallen into…

This small club is the heart of Osaka's underground electronic scene. The dance floor is nonsmoking. It's open on Friday and Saturday nights and sometimes…

In a small, wooded, brookside clearing between Nigatsu-dō and Kasuga Taisha, this quaint thatched-roof teahouse is one of Nara's most atmospheric spots…

It's all about local sake at this modern, sophisticated standing bar, which stocks 270 varieties from Hyōgo, Himeji's prefecture. Touch screens let you…

Both locals and out-of-towners agree that this cafe (running since 1975) is the place for coffee (freshly ground and siphon brewed, from ¥430) in Himeji…

Along the Nakahechi trail halfway between Hosshinmon-ōji and Kumano Hongū Taisha – about an hour's walk from each – is this inviting pit stop run by a…

This standing bar has a daunting selection of 90 kinds of sake, including about 50 from local brewers, on its (Japanese-only) menu. Anticipating your…

Frenz Frenzy calls itself a 'rainbow haven' and it means that literally: the whole place is awash in colour (including the front door, thankfully, because…

A big chain wouldn't normally be worth listing, but this Starbucks is different: it's housed in a beautifully preserved former ijinkan (foreigners' house)…

With its 1940s interior intact and waitresses in long skirts, American is a classic jun-kissa – a shop from the first wave of cafes to open in Japan…

This cafe is in one of Oharai-machi's beautifully maintained wooden buildings, but set back from the street, with window- and terrace-front views over the…

Small-batch-chocolate speciality shop Dandelion serves decadent hot chocolates (¥580 to ¥630), along with cookies and brownies (¥330 to ¥450); the stylish…

This cafe in a restored wooden building was the first of its kind in Nakazaki-chō – and it set off a wave of followers. Run by local performing artist…

Serving the music-loving community since 1995, Rock Rock has a history of hosting after-parties for international acts and attracting celeb visitors…

Crammed with vinyl and knick-knacks, Phoebe looks like a drinks counter operated out of an old hippie's storage closet (we mean that in a good way). The…

In the bustling maze of restaurants and bars in the ultra-local area of Ura-Tenma (behind Temma station) is this branch of Beer Belly from the Minoh…

This tiny takeaway stand – the vintage Probat roaster takes up half of it – raised the bar for coffee in Osaka when it opened in 2016. The owner speaks…

If heights aren't your thing, you'll need a stiff drink once you've peered down over the city from the 40th floor at this ultrasuave hotel bar. Service is…