Tokyo
If you have visited Tokyo before – or any large city in Japan – you already know this. You Will Get Lost. (I need to print that on a t-shirt.) Now that wouldn’t be such a bad thing if there wasn’t so much ground to cover in so infuriatingly little time! According to the internet, the city has over 30.000 beer bars. We can thank those who have made an attempt to create an online Japan craft beer map to help you out like beertengoku.com and beerbarsjapan.com. My strategy was to make a list of favorites from friends and other blogs and then visit based on my sightseeing and dining route. I ended up spending a lot of time in Shibuya, a fun ‘ward’ featuring the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, Asakusa and Ginza.
On my very first night I visited a wonderful cider bar called Cidernaut, one of Tokyo’s first “legitimate” cider bars. This is where I learned how friendly Japanese people are, with two cute staff members bombarding me with questions on what I was doing there. With 10 quality ciders on tap, including Japanese ciders using local apples, it also showed that there is a market for it in Japan and they are mirroring (or even advancing) global trends.
A few minutes walk from there is Øl by Oslo Brewing Co. A Norwegian brewery opening a bar in Tokyo? I had to see that! It was an absolute delight. A small terrace outside and a cozy, welcoming interior. A foodtruck served delicious looking tacos. I learned later that the Japanese like to combine the two and that most bars have a food menu.
Similar to the situation in The Netherlands, Scandinavian beer – and craft beer in general – is also expensive in Japan. Danish bar Mikkeller Tokyo was no exception. Downstairs is a relatively small Japanese style standing bar (seating upstairs), with a gray concrete floor, ambient lighting and about 20 taps. In September it is still quite warm though and by opening up the whole streetside wall, they are able to create open-air seating. Sometimes they serve wild fermented sake and they have a bathroom dedicated to Rick Astley (and he visited it!). Be sure not to miss the famous Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko statue nearby.
Near the Senso-ji temple, a must-visit on your trip, you will find another delightful beer bar called The Day East Tokyo in Asakusa. An excellent selection of 8 taps, both Japanese and international beers. The best part was that the cook whipped up a vegan salad for me that wasn’t on the menu. This is my kind of place.
Other bars that I enjoyed were Baird Beer Harajuku, CraftRock in Ginza, the Asahi skyroom (amazing view and the beers are pretty good, too), and Tokyo Aleworks next to Tokyo Station.
(Beware that some places will be hard to find in the major cities as they can be on a higher floor or in the basement of buildings, so pay close attention to the Google Maps instructions or check the reviews for helpful tips.)
