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A handful of narrow streets with loads (dozens) of tiny bars, some only seat 6 people. Some on top of each other, accessed by a step ladder. All have different themes, some charge entry, some only serve regulars, but plenty don't. Generally cheap and good atmosphere, lots of food places also.
Again see link or YouTube vids, but I recommend. Had a great night. Certainly an experience.
I don’t know Shinagawa that well but it’s on the Yamanote (circle) overground line so you can get to other places easily. Random thoughts Don’t be intimidated by the language…Japanese people are generally (outside of certain entertainment establishments) incredibly welcoming and accommodating. Act helpless and friendly and they will try their hardest to help. Shinjuku and Roppongi are the most famous places for a night on the piss, but the former is too overwhelmingly huge and busy for me and the latter had irritating bar touts, at least pre Covid, maybe better now. My favourite drinking spot is around Shimbashi (between Shinagawa and Tokyo station) a warren of backstreet izakaya (pub-restaurants) and bars. Japanese beer might taste innocuous but it’s deviously strong and gives you a cruel hangover. Set lunch is an absolute bargain. The same meal might cost three times as much at night. If your budget is tight, check out drugstores or small supermarkets for drinks and snacks, much cheaper than convenience stores. Alternatively, fill up with ramen or gyudon for about Y1,000 a head (£6). To translate prices into pounds, knock off the last three digits and multiply by 6. If that’s too hard, knock off two digits and halve it. Close enough. Going to football is great, but it’s mostly played in distant suburbs that are challenging to get to and there are no midweek games. Midweek baseball at the Yakut Swallows Meiji Jingu stadium is a delight. Watch the sunset with a beer from one of the draught girls, great stuff. The best place for souvenirs, especially for kids, is the Ameyokocho market under the Yamanote Line tracks before Ueno Station coming from Tokyo and Akihabara, get off the station before Ueno, can’t remember the name now. It’s like a giant Shepherds Bush market, and a fun place for a cheap night of drinking and snacks in its own right. Conventional stores you might want to look at for quirky cheap presents are Daiso (classy pound shop), The Loft (no really! a bit like Muji) and Tokyu Hands. Bic Camera and Yodobashi are mega electrical and camera stores the internet has destroyed here…the range is awesome but the savings aren’t that good.
I don’t know Shinagawa that well but it’s on the Yamanote (circle) overground line so you can get to other places easily. Random thoughts Don’t be intimidated by the language…Japanese people are generally (outside of certain entertainment establishments) incredibly welcoming and accommodating. Act helpless and friendly and they will try their hardest to help. Shinjuku and Roppongi are the most famous places for a night on the piss, but the former is too overwhelmingly huge and busy for me and the latter had irritating bar touts, at least pre Covid, maybe better now. My favourite drinking spot is around Shimbashi (between Shinagawa and Tokyo station) a warren of backstreet izakaya (pub-restaurants) and bars. Japanese beer might taste innocuous but it’s deviously strong and gives you a cruel hangover. Set lunch is an absolute bargain. The same meal might cost three times as much at night. If your budget is tight, check out drugstores or small supermarkets for drinks and snacks, much cheaper than convenience stores. Alternatively, fill up with ramen or gyudon for about Y1,000 a head (£6). To translate prices into pounds, knock off the last three digits and multiply by 6. If that’s too hard, knock off two digits and halve it. Close enough. Going to football is great, but it’s mostly played in distant suburbs that are challenging to get to and there are no midweek games. Midweek baseball at the Yakut Swallows Meiji Jingu stadium is a delight. Watch the sunset with a beer from one of the draught girls, great stuff. The best place for souvenirs, especially for kids, is the Ameyokocho market under the Yamanote Line tracks before Ueno Station coming from Tokyo and Akihabara, get off the station before Ueno, can’t remember the name now. It’s like a giant Shepherds Bush market, and a fun place for a cheap night of drinking and snacks in its own right. Conventional stores you might want to look at for quirky cheap presents are Daiso (classy pound shop), The Loft (no really! a bit like Muji) and Tokyu Hands. Bic Camera and Yodobashi are mega electrical and camera stores the internet has destroyed here…the range is awesome but the savings aren’t that good.
A few more…. I mostly find Tokyo museums full…pots and calligraphy…but I make an exception for the Yasukuni Shrine, the military museum and memorial to ALL of their fallen soldiers. Confrontationally unapologetic, they claim credit for freeing Asia from Western colonialism without mentioning they tried to replace it with something at least as bad. See for yourself, quite an experience.
If you want temples, there’s the Asakusa district, which was also the centre of the 1945 firebombing air raid, a reminder that even ancient looking temples are probably the 30th rebuild of the original. On the other side of town, the Meiji Shrine complex can form a double bill with the bizarro fashion alley at Harajuku. See also the Shiba Park complex near Shimbashi. Avoid the Imperial Palace, they won’t let you in, it’s just a long moat with a wall behind it.
A couple more shopping experiences…the restaurant supply district in Kappabashi, you can pick up super sushi knife or the plastic display meals they put in the windows. Also Don Quijote stores, aka Donki, aka the shop with the penguin signs. A weird crammed bazaar, one of the few places you can buy green tea Kitkats, an ironing board and a dildo under one roof. People do.
If you want a change of pace, the wife and I took a stroll through the Imperial Gardens right by the royal palace. Some nice gardens and a glimpse of Tokyo folk enjoying the park. You can walk by Budokon and channel Cheap Trick.
Shibuya Cossing, purportedly the world's busiest intersection can be worth a visit at night when all the electronic billboards are in full display. Cotton candy as an art form and other uniquely Japanese shops are right there too.
I didn't make it to one but I hear the baseball games are crazy good.
There are religious festivals that time of year. You might want to keep a look out for one but you might hear Japanese holiday music in the stores. Unique sound.
If you take day trips, Kyoto and Hiroshima are relatively not too long away by train and both are memorable places to experience. Have fun!
If you want a change of pace, the wife and I took a stroll through the Imperial Gardens right by the royal palace. Some nice gardens and a glimpse of Tokyo folk enjoying the park. You can walk by Budokon and channel Cheap Trick.
Shibuya Cossing, purportedly the world's busiest intersection can be worth a visit at night when all the electronic billboards are in full display. Cotton candy as an art form and other uniquely Japanese shops are right there too.
I didn't make it to one but I hear the baseball games are crazy good.
There are religious festivals that time of year. You might want to keep a look out for one but you might hear Japanese holiday music in the stores. Unique sound.
If you take day trips, Kyoto and Hiroshima are relatively not too long away by train and both are memorable places to experience. Have fun!
Shibuya is a good call and it’s close to Shinagawa. What’s hard to grasp about Tokyo until you are there is the amazing density of people. Shibuya crossing is one place to realise it, another is leaning on a pillar on the concourse under Shinjuku station for twenty minutes, you’ll think you’ve seen everyone in Japan.
Yokohama is less than half an hour by train from Shinagawa by about 14 different train routes, it’s an interesting place to walk around and also has a nice open air baseball stadium, as well as a couple of J league teams, one playing in the World Cup final stadium. Getting there also takes you through Kawasaki and the other Kanagawa dormitory suburbs, incredible to see how packed they are.
Something else I’ve wanted to try but never got round to is evening racing at Tokyo TCK, the course on the monorail from Haneda airport to Hamamatsucho, about three stops from Shinagawa. Apparently good value and entertaining. https://www.tokyocitykeiba.com/en/keiba/
Was in Tokyo at the end of March for 5 or 6 days, and hoping to go back next year - that's how much I loved it. (Will add a few of the suggestions on here to our itinerary when I do).
Can definitely agree on the population density - if you imagine that London or New York might have say 5 or 6 very busy large areas during rush hour - Tokyo seems to have at least 10 or 12 of those. So in a lot of situations you just need to embrace the crowds (not literally).
Shibuya is a good spot for this of course. We booked in advance for Shibuya Sky - really enjoyed it though pity about the glass the whole way round the top - but, typical of the place - very clean glass. There's a mall nearby that you can have a drink from the upper floors (Floor 18ish) - great view over the city and can watch Shibuya crossing below. Cost 1000 Yen to sit there but the drinks weren't too bad. Also I had my favourite ramen around Shibuya - at a very simple place called Mazesoba Shichi. The spicy one with pork (No. 6 possibly) - an unbelievable use of about 7 quid.
Have a couple of drinks beforehand if you're going into Don Quixote in Shinjuku - the scale and selection of tat/non-tat is insane.
For Akihabara I would go early evening or afternoon - we went there about 9pm and found it quieter than expected.
As Sheen says - Kapabashi is a great place to buy quality knives. I got mine in the shop with the giant knife outside it - Kamata - worked out about 65 quid, bloody love that knife and the staff were great, dissuading me from a more expensive but difficult to use one. There are loads of shops specialising in knives so might be worth trying 2 or 3. Also got an excellent wok.
In fact I'm not a shopper at all but found it to be good for shopping. The yen has been in a slump for some time and a lot of places offer tax free shopping (carry your passport). Got a mac mini there for just over £1000 that is £1300 here. (Base model only - adding upgrades is basically a no-go for tax free from my experience and I did try for a while). Bic Camera - amazing shop.
They are sort of 18 months behind us in their Covid response, and the mandatory mask regulations were only lifted in mid March. So most people will still be wearing masks, even outside. We just put them on in crowded indoor places where everyone else was, and on transport - most non Japanese are walking around outside without them, and we didn't need to wear them on the plane at all despite flying with JAL.
Was only there for 2 nights in early April. Try the Tokyo Tower and the Japanes Garden for a break from the rush day (not rush hour). Japanese are polite and helpful. Otherwise echo what others have said.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky
This is fantastic guys I think I need to book an extra week!!!
Have looked at the subway map and its given me the wobbles.
I am currently watching James May our man in Japan for a few visual insights as well as various youtube vlogs
QPR has just announced the friendly against Oxford when Im away, should I cancel my trip.....Naaaaaaaaaa
Subway map? Kids' stuff, you get your black belt in the suburbs. http://transitmap.net/greater-tokyo-kzaral/#jp-carousel-1082 Have fun! It can be effing hot in August, so being on a nice airconditioned subway train will be something to enjoy.
For good cheap eats go to one of the Yoshinoya cafes and eat with the locals. Also the bars and Isikayas under the arches at Yuracucha station are very atmospheric and if you’re lucky you’ll see groups of men in black suits and black ties getting hammered. Asahi black on draught is one of the best beers I’ve ever had. A fantastic place.
For good cheap eats go to one of the Yoshinoya cafes and eat with the locals. Also the bars and Isikayas under the arches at Yuracucha station are very atmospheric and if you’re lucky you’ll see groups of men in black suits and black ties getting hammered. Asahi black on draught is one of the best beers I’ve ever had. A fantastic place.
A yoshinoya beef bowl at any hour of the day is one of life's greatest pleasures
For good cheap eats go to one of the Yoshinoya cafes and eat with the locals. Also the bars and Isikayas under the arches at Yuracucha station are very atmospheric and if you’re lucky you’ll see groups of men in black suits and black ties getting hammered. Asahi black on draught is one of the best beers I’ve ever had. A fantastic place.
Men in Black Suits is that getting hammered or with hammers Not Yakuza?
Subways /metro are fine. Look out for the maps which tell you which part of the train to board for your destination. They are very useful and usually on the platform. Plus any trains etc run to the second on time. Literally!
Men in Black Suits is that getting hammered or with hammers Not Yakuza?
The 'Salary Man' - there's an Anthony Bourdain episode that covers it:
Saw a lot of it in the two weeks we were in Japan - blokes out after work, a bit merry, often bowing to each other at the end of the night. And very much a masculine phenomenon (from my outsider perspective at least - and Anthony's god rest his soul...)
You'll be surprised about how much bowing there actually is - I was getting quite into it myself by the end of the trip.
My ambition for next time is to learn whatever the Japanese phrase is for a second helping of noodles. I intend to ring the bell provided and proclaim it loudly and confidently, to great cheers from my fellow Japanese eaters, possibly with a moderate amount of beer being thrown into the air.
Haven't been there for a few years but one of the highlights for me was a boat trip down the Sumida River which runs close to the city centre. You get great views of the city bridges and the massive golden flame sculpture on top of the Asahi brewery building. Other highlights were visiting a tea house for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony and visits to Mount Fuji and Kyoto on the Shinkansen bullet trains.
Unfortunately the Tokyo fish market we visited has since closed (Tsukiji ?) which was amazing for the tuna catches on display. I must admit wanting to go back to see some of the latest displays of robots in their science museums.
I´ve been a few times and looking forward to going back in the Autumn, would recommend hiring a pocket wifi router in advance, you can pick it up at the airport and drop it back afterwards, that way you can use Google maps / City Mapper etc when navigating the city and not spend on data, I used: https://ninjawifi.com/
https://tokyocheapo.com/ is a good resource of what's on, and what to check in each neighborhood.
Im going to compile a list of all this then break it down into daily segments but unlike my London I have no real idea of the logistics of the place plus schedules on a holiday tend to go ff the rails soon after they begin.
I'd rather this way than wear a same coloured baseball cap and follow a guide around with 30 other people.
Im going to compile a list of all this then break it down into daily segments but unlike my London I have no real idea of the logistics of the place plus schedules on a holiday tend to go ff the rails soon after they begin.
I'd rather this way than wear a same coloured baseball cap and follow a guide around with 30 other people.
Have ordered Alex Schwab's book
biro kudasi, what else do I need to learn?
I just said most of the same stuff that James May said to be honest :) Excuse me is useful of course, and easy to say, and thank you, that sort of stuff.
For getting around I'd download the Navitime app - English version obviously. I found it more accurate than Google sometimes, nice and clear, and if you're using a JR pass you can filter it to give those routes rather than the Nozomi. You may need to wait till you're there to be able to download it, not sure.
Google Lens too of course, for the translate feature - modern day witchcraft but invaluable.
Im going to compile a list of all this then break it down into daily segments but unlike my London I have no real idea of the logistics of the place plus schedules on a holiday tend to go ff the rails soon after they begin.
I'd rather this way than wear a same coloured baseball cap and follow a guide around with 30 other people.
Have ordered Alex Schwab's book
biro kudasi, what else do I need to learn?
One more thing...I'm not a Rawk fan by any means, but I was taken to this place in Roppongi one night and had the time of my life, headbanging and roaring along. https://rockbarbauhaus.com/ Japan in a nutshell, extremely friendly and welcoming, but still totally dedicated to doing the best job they can for you.
Went more than a few years back on business and was taken to a Puffa/Blow Fish (Fuga) restaurant - Fukaji- bit of a buzz as its deadly poisonous if you don't eat the right bit !! Its an experience and not something that is repeated anywhere else in the world.
Went more than a few years back on business and was taken to a Puffa/Blow Fish (Fuga) restaurant - Fukaji- bit of a buzz as its deadly poisonous if you don't eat the right bit !! Its an experience and not something that is repeated anywhere else in the world.
One more thing...I'm not a Rawk fan by any means, but I was taken to this place in Roppongi one night and had the time of my life, headbanging and roaring along. https://rockbarbauhaus.com/ Japan in a nutshell, extremely friendly and welcoming, but still totally dedicated to doing the best job they can for you.
Right up my street will be in Thailand week before so doing a few rock venues there
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