Entertainment and Amusement
Karaoke rooms and game arcades are how the night keeps going in Ueno after the restaurants stop serving. Three karaoke branches never close, one takes you through to 9:00 the next morning, and the two arcades run until 23:30. Two rules decide whether you can actually get in, so read them before you walk over.
Two rules to check first
Age limits. Nobody under 16 gets in after 18:00, and nobody under 18 after 22:00. Karaoke Kan states both of those for all its branches, and adds that an 18-year-old still at high school is treated as under 18, and that a child under 18 with a parent or guardian may stay until 23:00. Karaoke Manekineko's own rule is that under-16s may not use the rooms from 18:00, and Taito's arcades state that under-18s may not enter after 22:00, that an under-16 with a guardian may stay until 22:00, and that an under-16 without one keeps the earlier 18:00 limit. Underneath all of this is the Tokyo ordinance on young people, which forbids karaoke box operators from admitting anyone under 18 between 23:00 and 4:00. No one under 20 may be served alcohol or allowed to smoke.
Karaoke Manekineko is members only. All its branches require a membership card, shown at reception, and the card is a smartphone app, so you need a phone that can take calls. To register on your first visit you must show one of six documents and no others: a My Number card, a driving licence, a student ID or school handbook with a photo, a disability certificate, a passport, or a residence card. A passport is on the list, which is what makes this workable for visitors. One card for the whole group is enough, so one person can register and the rest can sing.
Open 24 hours: Karaoke Manekineko
Three branches sit within a couple of minutes of each other, all open 24 hours and open every day, and all three publish the same prices and rules.
- Ueno Chuo-dori, 4-8-6 Ueno, floors 4 and 5 — about two minutes from Keisei Ueno Station. Rooms take up to 25 people.
- Ueno Chuo-dori No.2, 2-7-12 Ueno, floors 4 to 5 — about one minute from Ueno-hirokoji Station on the Ginza Line. Rooms take up to 50 people, the largest of the three.
- Ueno Hirokoji, 2-1-3 Ueno — about one minute from Ueno-hirokoji Station. Rooms take up to 30 people.
Prices are per person, tax included, for members, and a drink order is required: on top of the room charge each person orders a drink costing at least ¥451. A 30-minute slot between 18:00 and 7:00 is ¥480 Monday to Thursday and ¥580 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and the day before a holiday. Free time from 18:00 to 5:00 is ¥2,700 or ¥3,600 with last entry at 23:00, and the late-night plan from 23:00 to 6:00 is ¥2,400 or ¥3,300 with last entry at 4:00.
The minimum stay is one hour and extensions go in 30-minute steps. All three have free Wi-Fi, a smoking booth, chargers to borrow and party rooms, and all three allow you to bring your own food and drink. Cards, IC cards, PayPay, Alipay and WeChat Pay are all accepted. Pets are not allowed, except guide and assistance dogs.
Karaoke until morning
- Karaoke Kan Ueno No.2, 4-9-6 Ueno — open 11:00 to 9:00 the next morning, every day, which is the latest closing time of any of these. A 30-minute slot from 18:00 is ¥385 for members, ¥513 for non-members and ¥320 for students Monday to Thursday, rising to ¥495, ¥660 and ¥410 at weekends and on holidays, with a drink to order. Darts are in the same rooms and the price list says throwing is unlimited at no extra charge. There is a room for heated tobacco.
- Karaoke Kan Ueno Honten, 4-4-6 Ueno — open 9:00 to 5:00, or to 6:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and the day before a holiday. This is the branch with an English page on the chain's site, and the only one of the three listing a kids' room as well as a heated tobacco room. Same 30-minute prices as No.2 from 18:00; the all-night free time from 23:00 to 5:00 is ¥1,700 for members and ¥2,266 for non-members on Sunday to Thursday, and ¥2,850 or ¥3,800 on Friday, Saturday and the day before a holiday.
- Karaoke Kan Ueno Ekimae, 6-13-6 Ueno — open 11:00 to 5:00, or to 6:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and the day before a holiday. Evening 30-minute slots are ¥400 for members and ¥533 for non-members Monday to Thursday, ¥550 and ¥733 at weekends, and no student rate is listed. The equipment list shows no smoking room and no kids' room.
- BIG ECHO Ueno Ekimae, 4-10-6 Ueno — open 10:00 to 5:00 every day of the year, with the largest room taking 30 people. Leave the Shinobazu Exit of JR Ueno Station, cross the road and turn right along Chuo-dori; from Keisei Ueno Station it is directly in front of the Chuo-dori exit. A 30-minute evening slot is ¥400 for members, ¥600 for non-members and ¥280 with a student discount from Monday to Thursday, and ¥550, ¥800 and ¥390 from Friday to Sunday and on holidays, with one drink to order. The all-night free time from 23:00 to 5:00 runs from ¥1,700 for a member on Monday to Thursday up to ¥3,600 for a non-member on Friday to Sunday and holidays. The site switches between nine languages, there is free Wi-Fi and a heated-tobacco room, and bookings can be made online.
All three Karaoke Kan branches take bookings through LINE and accept cards, IC cards, Alipay+, WeChat Pay and UnionPay. Both chains warn that when they are full they may limit how long you can stay, or turn people away.
Game arcades
Both arcades in the area belong to Taito, both are open 10:00 to 23:30 and both are open every day of the year. Prices per game are not published, so take coins or a card.
- TAITO STATION Ueno Ameyoko, 4-10-17 Ueno — the arcade's own description puts it right by Ueno Station, 100 metres into the Ameyoko market street. It has free Wi-Fi, cashless payment, a currency exchange and ChargeSPOT phone rental, and Taito publishes an English page for it.
- TAITO STATION Ueno Okachimachi, 4-6-9 Ueno — five minutes from the North Exit of Okachimachi Station, along the Uenaka shopping street. Free Wi-Fi, cashless payment, ChargeSPOT, and medals can be bought by credit card. No currency exchange is listed here.
Good to know
- Karaoke prices are per person and per 30 minutes, not per room, and every plan above comes with either one drink to order or a drink bar to pay for. Manekineko sets the minimum drink at ¥451 and sells a drink bar at ¥580; Karaoke Kan charges ¥660 for its drink bar instead of the single drink.
- Membership makes a real difference to the bill. At Karaoke Kan an evening half hour is ¥385 for a member against ¥513 for a non-member, and at Manekineko the price list shows a surcharge of ¥330 per 30 minutes, or ¥550 on the free-time plans, for non-members and for one person on their own at weekends. The chain does not spell out when that surcharge applies, so ask at reception.
- Student rates exist at Karaoke Kan and BIG ECHO, but you will be asked for a student card. Manekineko has a free-time plan for groups of university and college students and a 30-minute rate of ¥10 for the 7:00 to 12:00 morning slot.
- Smoking is in a separate booth or a dedicated room everywhere here, and anyone under 20 may not enter a smoking area at all, nor bring in their own alcohol or tobacco.
- BIG ECHO's own page contradicts itself about busy nights: one part says your time may be limited, including on free-time plans, while the price note promises free time runs to its advertised end. Ask when you check in.
- If you are heading out at 23:30 when the arcades close, the karaoke rooms and several restaurants are still going. Isomaru Suisan Ueno 6-chome and ICHIRAN at Atre Ueno are open 24 hours, and TORIKIZOKU Ueno Chuo-dori serves until 5:00 with everything at ¥410.
Plan the rest of the night
For a group, the big rooms at Manekineko Ueno Chuo-dori No.2 and the ¥410 menu at Torikizoku are the two fixed points: see friends and groups. On your own, see solo travellers; with children, read the age limits above again and then families. Ueno explains the station exits, all venues lists hours and charges, and the guides have the routes.
Every area in this guide
Ueno · Asakusa · Shibuya · Shinjuku · Roppongi · Ginza · Tsukiji · Tsukishima