Bars & Cocktails

The Auditorium opened by Ueno Station on 1 November 2022 as a bar specialising in Japanese whisky, with more than 300 bottles alongside craft gin twists, signature cocktails inspired by well-known songs and Japanese craft beer. There are 26 seats, including 10 at a single-slab counter, plus a DJ booth, a room with a large projector, a 1974 Wurlitzer jukebox and about 3,000 records. All listed prices include tax and there is no seating or service charge. Smoking is allowed throughout, so no one aged 20 or under may enter.

Good to know

• No one aged 20 or under may enter.
• Smoking is allowed throughout the bar, so it does not suit non-smokers or families.
• Alcohol is not served to anyone who arrived by car or bicycle.
• Opening times on Saturday and Sunday are listed differently on the official site and the menu, so check with the bar before you go. The Friday closing time is also listed differently.
• An English menu is available, but the bar states in English that some staff are not confident in English and asks guests to use a translation app if needed.
• The price list on the website is marked as of June 2023 and prices may change.
• Closed over the New Year period.

A basement bar in Ginza 5-chome, open from 17:00 to 1:00 from Monday to Saturday, with the last entry at midnight. It is closed on Sundays and public holidays. The site and the menu are written in English first, down to the ingredients of each drink.

The house list leans Japanese: whisky with matcha liqueur and house-made matcha bitters, gin with sakura liqueur and roasted-tea bitters, cocktails built on sake and shochu, and a set of Japanese old classics including the Bamboo, the Million Dollar and the Yokohama. Fresh fruit cocktails change with the season.

Good to know

• Closed on Sundays and public holidays.
• Last entry is at midnight, even though the bar is open until 1:00.
• Drink prices are not published on the bar's site.

A shot bar on the second floor right at the Roppongi crossing, next door to Wendy's, open until 5:00 every day. There are two rooms: a main bar at the back and a front bar looking out over the crossing. The walls and ceiling are hung with Native American artefacts.

A drum hangs above the bar, and anyone buying a round for the whole bar beats it. Whoever buys the most rounds in a month tops the bar's leaderboard and gets a name plate fixed to the ceiling. The bar also runs a fifteen-shot challenge. Its site is written in English first.

Good to know

• Drink prices are not published on the bar's own site.
• The front bar overlooks the Roppongi crossing; the main bar is at the back.
• The bar has been running for about thirty years, by its own account of its anniversary.

Beer Boy is the standing craft beer bar of the Craft Beer Market group, in the basement of Shibuya Parco, four minutes from Exit A2 of Shibuya Station. The branch describes its theme as craft beer with sharikin shochu and izakaya food. The group pours 30 draught craft beers that change daily, selected from Japan and abroad and including its own CRAFTROCK BREWING labels. It opens every day from 11:30 to 22:30, following the opening hours of the shopping centre.

Good to know

• Open every day, following the opening hours of Shibuya Parco.
• Reservations are taken through Tabelog or by phone on 03-5422-3444.
• The group's site gives a flat price of ¥480 for ten of its beers and ¥680 for the other twenty, tax included and in half sizes, but adds that some branches are excluded. It does not say whether this branch is one of them.
• The number of seats, payment methods, any cover charge, the smoking policy, any age limit and English support are not stated on the official page.

Albatross G is a gallery bar in Shinjuku Golden Gai, the drinking quarter in a corner of Kabukicho that the bar's own site describes as holding nearly 300 bars. It is on Golden Gai's 5th street. The bar shows artwork by young artists, as its sister bars do, and the site says Albatross G in particular has been strongly supported by visitors from overseas. It opens every day of the year from 19:00 until 5:00 the next morning.

Good to know

• Prices, payment methods, cover charges, the smoking policy, the number of seats and any age limit are not stated on the official site.
• Telephone 03-3203-3699. The bar also takes enquiries about private hire and filming.
• Golden Gai is a dense lane of tiny bars; this one is on the 5th street.

LIVER is a third-floor bar in Yushima specialising in malt whisky, with more than 300 bottles kept in stock at all times and southern soul playing in the background. Half-shot tasting sets let you compare several whiskies, and the bar also makes whisky-based cocktails described as suitable for newcomers. The bar states that there is no dress code at all. Reservations are required on Saturdays; on other days walk-ins are seated when space allows.

Good to know

• Reservations are required on Saturdays. On other days you can be seated without a reservation if there is space.
• Closed on Sundays and public holidays.
• Reservations are taken by phone on 090-3148-6253 (a mobile number).
• The latest news post on the official site dates from May 2023, so call to confirm opening hours before visiting.
• The bar is on the third floor.
• Whether prices include tax is not stated on the official site.

A standing bar in a Ginza 5-chome basement, two minutes from Exit A3, which opened in 1992 as what it describes as Japan's first standing bar. There is no table charge: you buy tickets when you arrive, at least three per person, each ticket ¥300 or ¥330 with tax, and exchange them for drinks and food.

Over 150 drinks are listed. One ticket covers a standard cocktail, beer, wine, shochu or plum wine; two cover the mojito the bar is known for, which carries a certification from the Cuban embassy, or a drink made with the bar's own craft gin. Until 19:00 a set of classic cocktails drops to one ticket.

Good to know

• You must buy at least three tickets per person on arrival; the minimum spend is therefore ¥990 including tax.
• There is no table charge, and tickets are valid at all three branches.
• This is a standing bar — there are no seats to book.
• Happy hour runs until 19:00.

A British pub in Roppongi 3-chome, open since the 2002 football World Cup. It has a long bar, a large seating area, imported wooden furniture, a smoking booth and two dart boards that are free to use. The food is British pub cooking: fish and chips, homemade pies, bangers and mash, and a traditional Sunday roast served from noon every Sunday with horseradish and mint sauce brought in from the UK.

Five large screens carry live Premier League football, rugby, F1, UFC and AFL, and the pub says it will try to show any game you ask for. It opens at 17:00 on weekdays and from noon at weekends, closing at midnight, with the kitchen stopping at 23:00.

Good to know

• The kitchen closes at 23:00, an hour before the bar.
• This is one of the few places in this guide with an indoor smoking booth.
• Menu prices are not published in a form we could read, so none are listed here.
• The pub takes table bookings through its own site.

Bellovisto is the bar on the 40th floor of the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel, about 150 metres above ground and five minutes from the West Exit of Shibuya Station. It has 118 seats and private rooms, including a counter looking out towards the Shinjuku skyline, and serves Japanese whisky and spirits from around the world alongside seasonal dishes. Six signature cocktails, grouped as SHIBUYA LUXURY, rework classics around the history of the area, from the tea fields of the Edo period to the current redevelopment. The whole bar is non-smoking, the dress code is smart casual, and from 18:00 guests must be 20 or over.

Good to know

• From 18:00, guests under 20 are not admitted, even when accompanied by a parent or guardian.
• A table charge of ¥2,000 per person applies from 19:00, except at the counter. Hotel guests are exempt apart from some special seats.
• Listed prices include a 15 percent service charge and 10 percent consumption tax.
• The dress code is smart casual and the whole bar is non-smoking.
• Reservations are taken up to an arrival time of 19:00, by phone on 03-3476-3398 or online.
• On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays a table alone cannot be booked; a booking must include the afternoon tea or an Excellent Plan.
• Payment methods and any closing day are not stated on the official page.

OPEN BOOK is a bar of about ten square metres in Shinjuku Golden Gai, opened in 2015 with the slogan "the world's best lemon sour". Its signature drink is built on brown sugar shochu with syrup made from pesticide-free Japanese limes, sliced lemons from Hiroshima, a thin glass and large ice. The shelves hold books left by the owner's grandfather, the late writer Kojimasa Tanaka. The bar states that it opens basically every day from 20:00 and closes by midnight, and asks guests to check its Instagram for the latest. There is no signboard: it is the third shop in from the outside on Golden Gai's 5th street.

Good to know

• There is no signboard. The bar is the third shop in from the outside on Golden Gai's 5th street, and around 100 shops share the same street address.
• The bar says it opens basically every day from 20:00 and closes by midnight, and asks guests to check its Instagram for the latest hours.
• Prices in the bar, the number of seats, payment methods, cover charges, the smoking policy and any age limit are not stated on the official site.
• The official site is also an online shop, and it asks visitors to confirm they are 20 or over before entering.