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One Night in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan
The places to go when you've only got one night in town
Hot
times in Magambo, a lively Africa-themed bar for people from the world
over.
By Robi Hutcheson
So, you've only got a few nights –
maybe just a one-night layover – to spend in Japan. This is a quick
guide to Tokyo – the best bars, clubs, restaurants and scene
spots. It's good for locals as well as visitors of all nationalities.
In addition to Tokyo, we take a quick jaunt to Kyoto, a tourist city
with a vibrant nightlife.
So enjoy our quick tour of the bar scene to Asia's most
bustling city.FYI, the drinking (and smoking) age is 20.
Tokyo
It's expensive but bars – and shots – are plentiful in Tokyo.
The good news about this massive city known for $10 cups
of coffee and $200 taxi rides from the airport is that it has more places
to get drunk than some states.
Yes, it has jazz clubs with $70 covers and "hostess" clubs
that will hit you up for $200 before the girls and drinks arrive. But,
if you accept that you'll be paying $8 for a beer and $10 for a shot,
the town is manageable. As for wine, wait until you get home. You'll
pay 3 times as much for stuff you swear came from a screw-top.
Nightlife options in Japan range from the legendary "hostess"
clubs where you can possibly get more than drinks to dive bars which
they proudly call "Shot Bars" to the wackiest themed dance clubs.
Drinking in the streets is legal almost everywhere.Cans of beer are
sold in vending machines.
There's no mandatory last call or closing time. Some bars
open up at 5pm for the after-work crowd. Then again, some open at 5am
for the after-night crowd. Just stay away from any place with English-speaking
doorman trying to lure tourists inside.
Tokyo has many different neighborhoods or districts in
which to party. PubClub's local party guide recommended Roppongi.
It's friendly to Westerners, known as "gaijin." Many transplants from
the US and Europe work there. It's where the Hard Cafe Tokyo is located,
and better still (for girls) has Tokyo's newest high-end mall, Roppongi
Hills. And guys, it's crammed full of young, well-groomed Japanese women.
It also has a some very nice restaurants with bars that serve real Western-style
food.
Friday is the best night for going out. At 5pm, huge office
towers empty into the streets and bars. Roppongi Crossing becomes
like New York's Times Square. If you're looking to pick a meeting spot,
the front of Almond (pronounced all-mon-doe) coffee house is
the place. It's not a bad spot to talk with someone whose date hasn't
shown yet, either.
Although there is a multitude of places to choose from
on the main streets, most locals go to the winding side streets. A common
goal seems to be finding the smallest possible bar to squeeze into.
Some barely hold 30 people. To underscore how densely pack together
these places are you may be thinking: "If we don't like this place,
we'll go to the one down the hall, upstairs, downstairs or next door."
With taxis outrageously expensive, many people stick to
spots in walking distance to home or work. Those who commute in from
the suburbs on the trains have a choice come midnight: Catch the last
train home or stay out until they start up again at 5:30am. This explains
why some bars suddenly lose half their crowd around midnight. Rest assured,
those in suits still there aren't going home any time soon.
Here's a rundown of the best places:
The author relaxes
– albeit briefly – in Brahaus.
Bar Ambrose. Located in the "Pyramid" building,
it's just another restaurant/bar but features a $4 drink special for
happy hour. Not a bad choice for a date or afterwork drink. It's not
worth going to after 8pm.
Bar Milwaukee. An English-style pub in a basement
that features darts, foosball and a pool table. And a lot of Gaien men.
Be careful upon entering; the dart board is precariously close to the
bottom of the stairs.
Bauhaus. A Japanese band plays American '70s &
'80s cover tunes. Sometimes the lyrics are sung phonetically. A lot
of fun, more so for those able to talk their way past the $20 cover
charge. The "band" allows people to challenge in for spots and its members
double as waiters and bartenders.
 Charleston
and Son's. An Italian restaurant with passable food that features
an outdoor patio. Good place to start a night. The crowd is mixed of
Gaien and natives
Hobgoblin. Another pub-style bar full of transplants
from Great Britain. The house brew isn't worth drinking. The highlight
of PubClub's visit there there was seeing a bachelor, celebrating is
last night of freedom, hitting the floor at 11pm on a Thursday. He was
wearing an S&M hood, pink lei and pink sequined g-string over his
suit.
Magambo. This is an African-themed bar full of
white people. And it's pretty lively. Be wary of this bar on a pay-day
(Friday). The bell above the bar's purpose? To announce someone is buying
shots for the whole place. (At $10/shot one has to be a very generous
host but it happens more frequently than one would expect.) There's
also a "2 for 1" weekly special. The walls and ceiling are dedicated
to polaroids of people with their name and number. There's a plaque
on the wall dedicated to the "1,000 Shot Club."
Kyoto
Another fun Japan destination is Kyoto. It's a town that
may be best known for its temple-hopping but it definitely is set up
for nightlife, as well.
A good starting place is the Westin Miyagi. Its
Moon Light Lounge offers a fabulous 180-degree view from the
mountains to the city. Better still, it offers American-sized martinis
for about $10. It's a great place for a pre-dinner drink.
Kyoto itself has two main nightlife districts: Gion
and Kiya-machi (the River Walk.) Gion is best known as
the hang-out for the Geisha. (Ask really nicely and one might stop for
a photo.)
Gion's main drag (Higashi-oji-dori) has a full
range of typical Japanese nightlife from upscale restaurants to "shot
bars" (dives). The River Walk is a long alley filled with clubs, bars
and restaurants. If it's not a weekend, it seems more like a place to
take a date than find a mate. The sheer volume of options for drinking
and eating are mind-boggling.
One warning: If seated on a open-air patio along the river,
expect to pay a table charge of $10 or more per person.
For getting around, taxi service is much more reasonable
here than Tokyo.
Have
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