Topic: adviceS
Q: Where should go drinking in Tokyo?
A: ANYWHERE.
Japan is a drunk's paradise.
Bars are the second industry here--- the first being sleaze. Every meter of street has a bar; pick one you'll be puking and poorer before you know it.
PLEASE do not be scared to go into those tiny bars with only 5 stools. Often those places are the single guy's savior.
I was once dragged to a sleaze bar and one of the hostess upon learning that I lived in Sugamo-Komagome area DEMANDED that I go to her sister's 5-stool bar. Standing outside a tangled 2-meter lane, I felt real dumb going into microscopic, 2-story, wooden establishment. The 90 year old place was so small I could just about touch the opposite walls with my outstretched arms. It seems just too Japaneseque for a f'ed gaijin like me.
To make a long story short, the mama-san there ended up cooking me a home-cooked Japanese meal, with a few drinks for 3 nights a week for my first few years in Tokyo ...all for 1,200yen. I would have death-by-cup- ramen malnutrition without that lady. Hell on real slow nights, she would close up early and she'd take me upstairs. :wink:
WHERE are good places to hang out?
"Sister Chill" (Jude Brand) has written the book on that and at the TokyQ.com she's has writtten "Hangouts, Places to chill " column for years. Here's a typical review...
4 (Shi): Shibuya
4 (shi) has one of the best and wackiest locations for a bar. It is tucked in right under the Yamanote-sen tracks where they lead south out of Shibuya Station. Every time a train pulls in, the room shakes and the music takes a back seat to the commotion above. But you'd be surprised how quickly you become accustomed to this...