Japanese bars

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to drink in a Japanese bar? I made this video in December at my "local" place. By local I mean it's the place go to when I go drinking. It's actually in the next city. All bars in this city are pretty awful.

 

Like bars in the world, other bars do exist. I have been to several bars that are quite large and do not feel like you are stuck in someones spare room that has a bar. Although most bars in Japan do feel like this. There were a couple of bars I loved drinking in Shibuya but they have since been knocked down due to redevelopment...

One bar I was playing Mahjong with a couple of Yakuza types, something I was not aware of until after I won money from them and left the bar and my friend telling me that her friend who owned and ran the bar was the widow of an murdered Yakuza boss...

 

Of course there are bigger bars but as you say, the bar in the video is the typical style of Japanese bar which I wanted to show.

Lucky those Yakuza types didn't get nasty when you won their Money.

 

I can count all the bars in Tokyo that have half decent bar-tenders with my dick and balls. Other than that, the only economical place to get drunk in the metropolitan areas of Japan is a family restaurant. A lot of the clubs water down the booze to begin with I'm sure,then only give a shot, then act like you're trying to finger them in the ass when you ask them to top it up. All that for 700 to 1000 yen a drink.

My local spot's master (as luck would have it, married to a gaijin) has a simple philosophy for his bar: If people get fucked up there, they will come back. They do, and they do.

 

Man, I'd hated drinking in Tokyo when I lived there. I also don't like Japanese run bars down here because like you say they fuck you over with watered down drinks, beers with a 1/4 of a glass worth head! and bloody service charge. This place I go to gives proper drinks, good prices (500 yen for draft beer, 600 yen for imported bottles and most cocktails) and best of all Karaoke is only 100 yen entry fee and it's all you can sing for as long as you want. And just as you said, people (Japanese and foreigners alike) know this is good and always come back. The amount of faces you see every time you go there is amazing. Always regulars with one or two new faces.

 

Your first-person video, for some reason, really reminded me of Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

That being said, I really find the experience very, very interesting. I'm not much of a bar person, but the place looked really inviting.

 

thanks for sharing this, it was interesting
we don't have so small bars here or buildings full of them, ours are either "normal" or depressing places with strange people...
I used to go to metal or rock bars but for the last 1.5 years I am too bored to go out... must be the age virus getting stronger!

 

thanks for posting this, i do plan on visiting japan, and i do plan on drinking while im there, and bars / clubs in japan is one thing i have been wondering about especially from a westerners point of view

my "local" is a good 7 miles away, not exactly the next city though not exactly local either lol. would like to film a drinking session, although would probably be seriously cringe worthy watching it back and editing lol.

 

Finally watched this. Entertaining for sure.

 

I saw an Irish friend of mine's head almost explode when they kept pouring him a tiny glass of beer with 50% head. Fucking nuts. If you think of how much you're spending compared to what you get, it's somewhat criminal. The clubs have a weird business model though. Generally, patrons can only stay until last train or first train. Anywhere in the middle is a pricey taxi. So, a lot of people go and drink very little. To offset this, they have ridiculous cover charges, although they are cheaper now than a decade ago.

Bars a bit better, and it's easier to build up a rapport with the bar tender.

If you go to a crowded bar or especially club, you will most likely be frustrated with how slow they are to serve.

The rest of the world lambastes us, but I still stick by the tipping system for alcohol delivery.

EDIT: One other pro we've not mentioned. The only last call is when the bar shuts down, and you can quite easily by booze at the convenience store on your way home, no matter what the time. Definitely not going to get that in the west.

 

Just watched the video and it was interesting to say the least (I've always wondered what it would be like to drink in a japanese bar and this video gives me a general idea of how it goes) I do have a question though do you know the name of the song that the woman was singing it sounds like an interesting tune.

 

Indeed, you can buy booze any time of the day or night in Japan. There's no such thing as a none booze time.

The bar I go to (the one featured in the video) should close at 3am however the owner is very happy to stay open until 8am in needs be. I've been the last one there quite a few times leaving at 6 to 7am each time. I normally get a few free drinks too while the owner has a few and talks about photography and 80's shit.

When I lived in Tokyo most boozing was done in clubs but as GaijinPunch said, they have really bad cover charges or at least did when I lived there. Some places also have a token system. You pay 1000 yen for 5 tokens but each drink cost 3 tokens. I hate shit like that so I stay well away from any place that has a token system. Oh, and don't get me started on the Japanese 1/4 of a glass full of head when you order a beer. That is a joke but what's funny is they seem to think it's good and that it shows a good glass a beer. Does it fuck. All it shows is a lack of beer. None of that shit down my local thank God.

 

Just a heads up: Bars here (Belgium) stay open up until 8 as well, and booze is found 24/7 too... must be a country thing maybe?
These days, I mostly go to a well-known rock/metal bar a few streets down the block...
Lap-dances (amateurs) and weekly brawls are common, come to think of it.

@ Yakumo: I'm surprised you actually manage to let your wife agree arriving at 12 pm
(is it legal to sleep in your car in Japan?)

 

yeah, of course it's legal. I can't understand why some countries have a law against sleeping in your car.

 

we have illegal taxi office sales for after hours booze and some bars "wink wink" serve if they have attached offlicense aslong as you're descrete about it

a club in Belfast used to use a token system but that was mainly because they got so many underage kids in and it wasnt as much of a ripoff, i think the only place uses tokens now is the beer / cider festival we have in october / november which is a ripoff.

if they have Guinness it'd be a complete crime and just wrong to pour it with so much head (if even possible) has to be a full pint poured properly, although if i went to japan Guinness wouldnt be the first thing on my list lol

 

Thanks for the video! Aside from this, the only actual material I've seen about Japanese bars & clubs is "The Great Happiness Space," which is an... interesting documentary, haha

Your bar looks like a cozy place to drink and sing. :] Do many people pre-game before they go out drinking? You know, to mitigate the watered down drinks and such mentioned above?

 

Video looked like something important was missing. Like a shotgun.

 

That video makes me think of the Chatsubo, which is a bar in Neuromancer by William Gibson.

 

Interesting. thanks for sharing!

 

Japan versus Belgium, no competition bar-wise there I'd say! Though the amount of locals buying you drinks for novelty value (treating you like an effing circus freak along the way) is probably much lower.