Rise & Win Brewing Co. Kamikatz Taproom
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
This craft-beer brewery is based in a village in Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku, that has adopted a zero-waste program. The bar features an appealing…
Must-see nightlife in Tokyo
Tokyo
The Peninsula Tokyo hotel's 24th-floor bar has dress-circle views across the Imperial Palace, Hibiya Park and Ginza and a generous happy hour (5pm to 8pm…
Harajuku & Aoyama
On weekday evenings in summer the neatly clipped lawn of the elegant Meiji Kinenkan (an in-demand wedding venue) is transformed into the city's most…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Expect a crowd dressed like they don’t care that wine by the glass starts at ¥1540. The wine is good (and the bottle list deep), but more importantly, the…
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
Pronounced teh-zeh, but often just referred to as 'the library bar' (because the walls are lined with books) this long-time favourite haunt has a classic…
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
Eagle has established itself as a popular hang-out in Shinjuku-nichōme, thanks to friendly staff, happy-hour prices (¥500 drinks from 5pm to 8pm;…
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
Goldfinger is a long-running ladies' spot in Shinjuku-nichōme (but open to all, save for Saturdays). The bar has a lowbrow-chic decor designed to look…
Japan Sake & Shōchū Information Centre
Ginza & Tsukiji
This isn’t a bar, but who cares when you can get 30mL thimbles of regionally brewed sake or shōchū for as little as ¥100 a shot? There are dozens from…
Tokyo
Part of the collective of spaces run by the Kōenji-based activist group Shirōto no Ran (Amateurs' Riot), Nantoka Bar is about as uncommercial as a place…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Circus, the Tokyo offshoot of an Osaka club, is aggressively underground: small, out of the way, in a basement (of course), with no decor to speak of and…
Ginza & Tsukiji
This venerable tea seller's main branch is closer to Tsukiji, but this classy outlet in the Kabuki-za Tower has a Kengo Kuma–designed cafe where you can…
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
With chandeliers dripping from the ceiling and gilded frames on the walls, Albatross G has a louche decadence that has clearly struck a chord: the bar is…
Kōrakuen & Akihabara
This old house, completely covered in ivy, is a charmer with a welcoming owner and two of Tokyo's most famous shop cats. Seating is on floor cushions;…
Ginza & Tsukiji
If singing to a karaoke machine's tinny soundtrack isn't your cup of tea, how about having a live band strum along to your song of choice? Karat offers…
Tokyo
On the 7th floor of the Shin-Maru Building, this collection of nine bars and pubs is a popular after-work gathering spot. There's a wraparound terrace, so…
Tokyo
This takeaway counter sells matcha (powdered green tea; ¥800) from Uji (near Kyoto) in biodegradable cups, which you can enjoy on terrace with sofa…
Asakusa & Sumida River
Kamiya is one of Tokyo’s oldest bars (open since 1880) and still hugely popular – thanks largely to the one-litre dai-jokki (大ジョッキ; 'big cups') of Asahi…
Ginza & Tsukiji
This is one of the few parts of the Imperial Hotel to feature some of the designs and materials used in the original 1923 Frank Lloyd Wright building …
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
La Jetée, named for the Chris Marker film, is classic Golden Gai. Running for over four decades, the tiny bar (max occupancy: eight) is known as the go-to…
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
Part of the new generation of Golden Gai bars, the Open Book is run by the grandson of award-winning novelist Tanaka Komimasa (whose collection of well…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
This Tokyo outpost of a long-running Oslo coffee shop serves its signature light-roast coffee by day (from ¥370) and craft beer and cocktails both…
Kōrakuen & Akihabara
Sabōru checks the boxes of a classic mid-20th-century kissaten (coffee shop): dim lighting, low tables, lots of dark wood and strong burendo kōhī ('blend'…
Ebisu, Meguro & Around
Takkyū means table tennis and it’s a serious sport in Japan. This hilarious bar looks like a university table-tennis clubhouse – right down to the tatty…
Ueno & Yanesen
Sample a cup of paint-thick matcha (powdered green tea; ¥450) at this tiny teahouse on the edge of Ueno-kōen. Tradition dictates that the bitter tea be…
Tokyo
Daikaijū are the 'large strange monsters' of Japanese popular cinema, including the likes of Godzilla and Mothra. Get intimately acquainted with them at…
Ginza & Tsukiji
Down a side street of Higashi-Ginza is this tiny third-wave coffee shop serving single-estate brews with side orders of onigiri (Japanese rice balls) or…
Craft Beer Market Mitsukoshimae
Tokyo
If trawling Nihombashi's shops has given you a thirst, this craft-beer pub has some 30 kinds of ales and Japanese snacks available, such as fried chicken…
Ginza & Tsukiji
As well as French chef Thierry Marx's restaurant here, there's his casual bistro-bar where the outdoor terrace has a dress-circle view across to Ginza's…
Asakusa & Sumida River
This charming cafe occupies an old house on an alley running parallel to Kappabashi-dōri. Exposed beams are whitewashed and an atrium has been created,…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Part of a new wave of Shimo-Kitazawa spots run by the aptly named Nomouze (Let's drink) crew, chill spot Arena has a rooftop terrace and hosts the odd DJ…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
A long-time (in club years, at least) club-scene fixture, Womb is a reliable good night out on a Friday or Saturday if you want to lose yourself in the…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Nonbei-yokochō – literally 'Drunkard's Alley' – is another of Tokyo's anomolous strips of tiny wooden shanty bars. This one in the shadow of the elevated…
Ginza & Tsukiji
This beautiful teahouse from 1704 (and rebuilt in 1983) stands elegantly on an island in the central pond at Hama-rikyū Onshi-teien, reached via a long…
Ebisu, Meguro & Around
The people behind the Okura boutique next door have taken their folksy aesthetic and poured it into this backyard-style beer garden. On the menu: organic…
Odaiba & Tokyo Bay
This gigantic waterside club is Tokyo's largest, complete with a pool and food trucks. Best to come in a group and definitely check the schedule in…
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
A fixture on Tokyo's gay scene for many a moon, Arty Farty welcomes all in the community to come shake a tail feather on its (admittedly small) dance…
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
Rawhide chairs, cruzas de rosas (crosses decorated with roses) and tequila shots for the willing make Agave a good place for a long night in search of the…
Ginza & Tsukiji
This long-running joint is friendly to gaijin (foreigners; literally ‘outside people’) and has been serving a wide-ranging crowd for years. It provides…
Ginza & Tsukiji
Take a pause for afternoon tea (¥700 to ¥1400) at this slick contemporary tea salon. The menu is seasonal, but will likely include a cup of perfectly…
Ginza & Tsukiji
Inside cosmetic company Shiseido's iconic lipstick-red building, Salon de Café is a classic Ginza spot for tea (from ¥1000 for a pot), decadent seasonal…
