Tokyo has so many great bars, you could go to a different one every night for a year and barely scratch the surface. Here are a few fun ones I’ve been to that are worth a visit.
•
Tiny theme bar chock full of mid-century memorabilia is open all night • Hiroo area
•
Tiny basement bar with live jazz most nights of the week • Music is always excellent, atmosphere is friendly and intimate • Cover charge is only around $15 plus a drink • Shimo-Kitazawa area
•
Drink if you dare! This hookah and alcohol bar features not only cannabis-infused beer and vodka, but also crazy spirits made from snakes, scorpions and peyote! • Asakusa area
•
Beer Mount Beer Garden
Brews with a view: All-you-can-drink and all-you-can-eat for two hours (beer, wine, saké and limited cocktails, Japanese, Chinese & Western food) with a great view of Tokyo from the top of Mt. Takao (Note: the food is mediocre at best, but the atmosphere is nice on a warm summer evening) • Open July 1 – October 2
•
Amusing cathedral/gargoyle/stained glass theme • Fanciful menu and drink items • Customers tend to be cosplayers and Lolita/Gothic Lolitas • Shinjuku area
•
The bartenders here have pioneered some incredible techniques and flavors, resulting in foie gras martinis, coolers that taste exactly like Thai tom yum soup, and libations served in a smoke-filled skull.
MAPS to Akasaka and Yaesu locations
•
Intimate atmosphere with a secret room behind the bookshelves • In summer, one wall opens to the outside and art movies play on the wall opposite • Good mediterranean-style small plates• Ebisu area
•
You’re surrounded by the blue glow of the deep at the jellyfish and shark bar • Ebisu area
•
Science Bar Incubator
Medical research theme bar • Drinks served in test tubes and beakers • Heat your own saké over a Bunsen burner • Borrow one of the bar’s white lab coats to wear for your drink-a-thon • Akabanebashi area
•
THESE Library Lounge
Original seasonal cocktails • Cozy atmosphere amid the books, with many nooks & a mezzanine • If you’re lucky, a spot will open up on the torchlit roof deck • Hiroo area
•
While you’re in Japan, read a novel set in Tokyo!
Tokyo beyond the guidebooks 