Tokyo at Night with Friends

Written and checked by Upward Inc. · Last updated 2 November 2026 · How we check

Ueno, Shinjuku and Shibuya all have izakaya that count their seats in the hundreds, and some of them serve until 5:00 in the morning. Most courses come with two hours of all-you-can-drink. Book ahead if you are more than four, and read the per-person charges before you choose.

Where to start

For a group of any size, start with Shutei Juraku Ueno, one minute from the Shinobazu Exit of JR Ueno Station and under the railway arches at the entrance to Ameyoko. It has 100 seats in total, including tatami private rooms for up to 40 people and a semi-private room for 10 to 12 on the first floor. Courses are ¥4,000 and ¥5,000 including tax and come with two hours of all-you-can-drink; all seats are non-smoking.

If your group is in Shinjuku or Shibuya instead, the two largest rooms are SHIROKIYA Kabukicho Sohonten, with 479 seats, and UOTAMI Shibuya Jinnan, with 115. Both have private rooms and karaoke, both add a per-person charge, and both add 10 per cent to late orders; the amounts are in the lists below. The three area pages set out the walk from the station: Ueno, Shinjuku and Shibuya.

Rooms and big tables in Ueno

These five can take a group without rearranging the whole restaurant.

• Chiba-chan Ueno Ameyoko — 180 seats with tables and sunken kotatsu seating, parties of up to 80, and an English menu. Courses with 120 minutes of all-you-can-drink run ¥3,000 to ¥4,500 including tax, and on Friday and Saturday it stays open until 5:00.
• UENO TORIFUKU — 51 seats a minute from Ueno Station, with a private table room for 10 to 14 people and window seats looking over the night view. The whole restaurant is non-smoking and courses with all-you-can-drink are available.
• Nihonshu Genka Sakagura — a sake izakaya with private rooms, counter seats and whole-floor private hire, pouring around 40 sake at close to cost price. Tell the staff whether you like dry or sweet and they will pick bottles for the table.
• Isomaru Suisan Ueno 6-chome — open 24 hours every day with 154 seats and space for parties of up to 50, three minutes from JR Ueno Station. Shellfish is lifted live from the tank and grilled at your table, and there is free Wi-Fi.
• Eitaro Sushi — for a group that wants a proper sit-down dinner: two tatami rooms open into one for up to 18 people, and the counter is kept for guests having a course. Reserve ahead, and note that credit cards are accepted at dinner only.

Big rooms in Shinjuku

Shinjuku's large izakaya are on upper floors in Kabukicho, both of the two below on a fifth floor.

• SHIROKIYA Kabukicho Sohonten — 479 seats on the fifth floor of a building in Kabukicho, with private rooms, karaoke, TV, free Wi-Fi and a smoking booth, open 15:00 to 5:00 every day. All-you-can-drink plans are available, and there is a children's set at ¥658 including tax. A charge of ¥471 per person covers the otoshi, and orders between 22:00 and 5:00 carry a late-night charge of 10 per cent of the bill.
• YAMAUCHI NOUJOU Kabukicho Godzilla Road — 72 seats on Godzilla Road, with free Wi-Fi, a smoking booth and all-you-can-drink plans, open until 1:00 from Monday to Saturday. The charcoal-grilled Satsuma Yamauchi jidori is ¥1,758 for 180 g and ¥2,528 for 270 g including tax. The otoshi charge is ¥526 per person and there are no private rooms.
• Isomaru Suisan Nishi-Shinjuku 1-chome No.3 — 93 seats one minute from JR Shinjuku Station, open 24 hours every day, with space for parties of up to 50 and free Wi-Fi. Seating is non-smoking and there is a separate smoking booth.
• Kyo Kaiseki KAKIDEN — kaiseki over four floors a minute from the Central East Exit, taking anything from a meal for two to a party of 150. A service charge of 10 per cent is added; the ninth-floor tea rooms carry a room charge of ¥10,000 before tax and must be booked four days ahead. Cancellation is charged from three days before for the 6th, 7th and 9th floors.
• Sushi Tatsu — for a small group, the upstairs room takes a private party of up to eight, in the only sushi restaurant in Omoide Yokocho. Payment is cash only, the omakase sushi is ¥4,400 including tax, and the restaurant is closed on Sundays and public holidays.

Big rooms in Shibuya

Shibuya has rooms for 115, 104 and 224 people, and the largest of them sets a minimum charge per person instead of an otoshi.

• UOTAMI Shibuya Jinnan — 115 seats in a basement in Jinnan with private rooms, karaoke, free Wi-Fi and a smoking booth, open until midnight. All-you-can-drink and all-you-can-eat plans are available, a seven-kind sashimi platter is ¥2,068 including tax, and there is a children's plate at ¥638. The otoshi charge is ¥498 per person, and 10 per cent is added when the first order is placed from 22:00.
• GONPACHI SHIBUYA — 224 seats on the 14th floor of the E. Space Tower, with private rooms and private hire for up to 250, open 11:30 until 3:30 the next morning every day. A minimum charge of ¥1,100 with tax per person applies from 17:00, and private rooms carry their own minimum, from ¥30,000 per room in the evening. A vegan menu and a halal course are available and the whole restaurant is non-smoking.
• Isomaru Suisan Shibuya Udagawacho — 104 seats five minutes from the Hachiko Exit of JR Shibuya Station, open 24 hours every day, with space for parties of up to 50, free Wi-Fi, takeout and delivery.
• KAIKAYA by the sea — 70 seats in Maruyamacho, non-smoking throughout, with an English menu and English-speaking staff. Courses run ¥5,800 to ¥9,800 before drinks and tax, booking is essentially required, and online bookings must include a course. Tables are held for two hours.
• GBF – Goodbeer faucets — private hire takes up to 64 people seated or 100 standing, with 24 beers on tap and 50 kinds in cans. The bar's FAQ states that there is no cover charge, no otoshi and no service charge. It is closed on Mondays and is reached by lift.

Cheaper, louder, later

When the group is large and the budget is flat, these work better than a course menu.

• TORIKIZOKU Ueno Chuo-dori — every food and drink item is ¥410 including tax, so the bill splits itself. There are 91 table seats and it serves until 5:00, but there are no private rooms, only partitions, and reservations are for two hours.
• KUSHIKATSU TANAKA Ueno 6-chome — 57 seats across counter, table, tatami and box seating, with a menu printed in English, Chinese and Korean, open until 1:00 from Tuesday to Saturday. An assortment of eight skewers is ¥1,551 including tax, and the group shares one pot of sauce that must not be dipped into twice.
• 2nd COOPER — a craft beer pub with 42 seats, 12 or more beers on tap and about 80 bottled beers, all of it non-smoking. The pub recommends booking for groups of five or more, and asks you to call directly for a table after 20:00.
• Bar LUKE and Chianti PoP — two sister bars a few seconds apart, both open until 4:30 the next morning, with more than 190 drinks between them. For four people or more, call ahead so the tables can be rearranged, and check the day: LUKE closes on Sunday, Chianti PoP on Tuesday.
• TORIKIZOKU Shinjuku Higashiguchi — the same ¥410 for every food item, with 4 counter and 62 table seats on the eighth floor of the Peace Building, two minutes east of the Central East Exit. It opens at 14:00 on weekdays and 12:00 at weekends and serves until 4:00, with no private rooms and two-hour reservations.
• TORIKIZOKU Shibuya Center Gai Store — 3 counter and 55 table seats on the fourth floor of the Center Building in Shibuya Center-gai, three minutes from the Hachiko Exit. It serves until 4:00, and until 5:00 on Friday and Saturday nights; again there are no private rooms, only partitions.
• KUSHIKATSU TANAKA Shinjuku Kabukicho — 56 seats five minutes from Seibu-Shinjuku Station, open until 3:00 from Monday to Thursday and until 4:00 from Friday to Sunday. The sister branch in Shibuya, Shibuya Hyakkendana, has 58 seats and free Wi-Fi and closes at 1:00. Both add ¥319 including tax for each guest aged 20 or over and ask every person to order at least one drink.
• Oreryu Gyozaro Tokyu Honten-mae — gyoza at ¥200 for three and ¥400 for six, on the second floor of a building on Dogenzaka, open 17:30 until 5:00 with last orders at 4:30. Smoking is allowed, and the menu is in Japanese only.

Good to know

• Per-person charges are added on top of the food and drink. Chiba-chan adds a table charge of ¥473 per person, Nihonshu Genka Sakagura an entry fee of ¥540, and Kushikatsu Tanaka ¥319 for each guest aged 20 or over even if they do not drink. In the other two areas it is ¥471 at Shirokiya, ¥526 at Yamauchi Noujou and ¥498 at Uotami.
• Two restaurants list their charge in more than one place. Shutei Juraku and Ueno Torifuku both add a per-person charge whose amount differs between official sources, so confirm it at the table. At Torifuku it does not apply if you order a course.
• Late ordering costs more. At Chiba-chan anything ordered after 22:00 carries a 10 per cent late-night charge, and orders stop at 23:00 on the nights it closes at 23:30. Shirokiya and Uotami add the same 10 per cent, and Ichiran adds an unpublished late-night charge between 22:00 and 6:00.
• Shibuya charges minimums rather than an otoshi in some places. GONPACHI SHIBUYA sets ¥1,100 with tax per person from 17:00 plus a room minimum from ¥30,000 in the evening, and SUSHI GONPACHI SHIBUYA states its minimum as ¥1,100 with tax on its web page and ¥1,650 with tax on its menu, so check on arrival.
• One drink each is often expected. Chiba-chan and both branches of Kushikatsu Tanaka ask every person to order at least one drink, soft drinks included, and Bar Ishinohana asks each guest for one drink or one dish.
• Watch the clock on your table. Nihonshu Genka Sakagura and 2nd COOPER both put a two-hour limit on tables when they are busy, Torikizoku reservations are for two hours, and KAIKAYA by the sea holds a table for two hours.
• Private rooms are not everywhere. Chiba-chan has 180 seats but no private rooms, Yamauchi Noujou has none, and Torikizoku divides its tables with partitions only at all three of its branches here. For a closed room, choose Shutei Juraku, Ueno Torifuku, Nihonshu Genka Sakagura, Eitaro Sushi, Shirokiya, Uotami, Gonpachi or Kakiden.
• Three large izakaya refuse alcohol to anyone who arrived by vehicle, bicycles and electric kickboards included: Shirokiya, Yamauchi Noujou and Uotami. All three also state that they do not serve alcohol to anyone under 20, and staff may ask for identification.
• For a small group in a quiet bar, The TRAD rents its private room for ¥2,000 per group on top of a ¥1,200 cover charge per person, and the table side seats up to six. Smoking is allowed throughout and no one aged 20 or under may enter, which rules it out for some groups.
• If the group wants a club, both Shibuya venues set their own door rules. WOMB runs late-night events from 23:00 to 4:30, admits no one under 20, requires photo identification and does not allow re-entry; its Premium Lounge takes 4 to 8 guests at ¥10,000 per person for two hours including admission, with drinks extra and a 15 per cent service charge. clubasia charges admission per event plus a drink charge, refuses entry to anyone under 20 at night events, and refuses men wearing sandals.
• Ignore anyone who approaches you on the street. Touting for bars and karaoke in public places is banned by the Taito ward ordinance, and the police ask visitors not to follow street touts under any circumstance. Chiba-chan states that it does not use touts and asks you to contact the restaurant if someone claims to work for it.
• Agree on the way home before the last round. Last trains from Ueno and Okachimachi leave between about midnight and 1:00. After that, the three Isomaru Suisan branches are open 24 hours, Torikizoku runs to 5:00 in Ueno and to 4:00 in Shinjuku, Gonpachi Shibuya to 3:30, and Bar LUKE and Chianti PoP to 4:30.

Plan the rest of the night

To see how each station, its back streets and its bar lanes sit next to each other, read Ueno, Shinjuku and Shibuya. Seat counts, charges and closing times for every place are listed at all venues, and suggested routes for an evening are in the guides.

A whole evening in order is set out in the night plans: day 1, day 2 and day 3 in Ueno, and a separate Shinjuku plan. If someone in the group is going off alone, the solo travellers page lists the counters.

Every area in this guide

Ueno · Asakusa · Shibuya · Shinjuku · Roppongi · Ginza · Tsukiji · Tsukishima