Tips on Manners & Transportation at Night

What catches people out after dark is rarely the food. It is a charge nobody ordered, a sauce that must not be dipped twice, a door that will not open for anyone aged 20 or under, a ¥2,000 fine for lighting a cigarette on the pavement, and a train that leaves earlier than expected. This page covers three of the eight areas in this guide — Ueno, Shinjuku and Shibuya — and it sets out the rules the venues and the city wards publish, with the amounts they state.

The ward rules matter more than they sound. The three areas sit in four different wards, and the same cigarette or the same can of beer is treated differently in each. Shibuya fines people on the spot. Shinjuku publishes no fine for the same act. Those differences are set out below.

Your bill will be bigger than the menu, and that is normal

Most izakaya and bars in all three areas add a fixed per-person charge on top of whatever you order, and it cannot be declined. It goes by several names — otoshi, a table charge, a cover charge, an entry fee, a minimum charge — and sometimes it buys an appetizer, a seat, or both.

Three more add a charge but publish two different figures for it: Shutei Juraku Ueno, UENO TORIFUKU and SUSHI GONPACHI SHIBUYA, whose minimum charge from 17:00 is given differently by its own site and its own menu. We leave the number out rather than guess, so confirm it on arrival; at Torifuku the charge does not apply if you order a course.

Nobody expects a tip, but late hours are charged

You add nothing at the end of a meal or a drink anywhere in this guide, and none of the venues here asks for a gratuity. Where service is charged it is stated in advance, and in Shibuya two of the more formal rooms fold 15% into the printed price rather than adding it at the end: Sushi Ito Ikkan and Tower's Bar BELLOVISTO. Kakiden in Shinjuku and Izuei in Ueno add theirs at the end, 10% and 15% for a private room respectively, and the ¥1,200 cover at The TRAD includes its service charge.

Being there late is another matter, and it is the most common surprise on a bill. Three chains publish a late-night rate of 10%: Chiba-chan in Ueno after 22:00, SHIROKIYA in Kabukicho between 22:00 and 5:00, and UOTAMI in Shibuya when the first order lands between 22:00 and 5:00. All three branches of ICHIRAN in this guide — Ueno, Shinjuku and Shibuya — apply a late-night charge between 22:00 and 6:00 without publishing the rate, so a bowl of ramen costs an amount you learn at the machine.

House rules are real rules, and staff will hold you to them

The one that trips up the most visitors is the sauce at KUSHIKATSU TANAKA, in Ueno, Kabukicho and Hyakkendana alike: a skewer may not go into the pot twice. The pot is shared within your group and thrown away after your meal, which is the reason for the rule, and free cabbage is provided to scoop with instead.

Payment decides where you can eat, and it now cuts both ways. Cash only: Ramen Kamo to Negi in Okachimachi takes no cards, electronic money or QR payments, Sushi Tatsu in Omoide Yokocho is cash only, and in the standing area at Tachinomi Kadokura you pay in cash as each item is handed to you. Cashless only: AFURI on Dogenzaka states that cash cannot be used at all, and GONPACHI SHIBUYA says the same on its own Instagram profile. Eitaro Sushi accepts credit cards at dinner only. Carry both a card and some coins.

Two Shibuya rooms publish a dress code, and Sushi Ito Ikkan states what it means: smart casual, and men in T-shirts, shorts or sandals may be turned away. Tower's Bar BELLOVISTO on the 40th floor asks for the same.

Closing time is not the last time you can order or arrive. Kakiden serves dinner until 22:00 but takes its last entry at 19:30. SAKE BAR UENO SHOJYO takes its last entry at midnight and admits neither a party made up only of non-drinkers nor anyone already drunk. Nihonshu Genka Sakagura stops food at 22:30 and drinks at 23:00. Bar BenFiddich in Nishi-Shinjuku works in seatings at 19:00, 21:00 and 23:00, cancels your reservation if you are 15 minutes late, and does not answer the phone during opening hours. WOMB allows no re-entry once you are inside.

Several places take no online bookings, which matters without a Japanese phone. Izuei states that reservations are by telephone only, Sushi Tatsu books on 03-3342-0740, Tsunahachi books by phone because the chain's online form does not list this branch, LIVER books through a mobile number, and BAR SAMURAI takes its web form up to the day before and asks you to call on the day. Bar Ishinohana takes its online form for one or two people only and asks for at least a week's notice, and states that bookings cannot be made through AutoReserve. KAIKAYA by the sea treats a booking as essentially required and asks that an online booking include a course.

Smoking indoors is tied to your age by law

Under Japan's amended Health Promotion Act, nobody under 20 may enter a smoking area, even with no intention of smoking. That is why the two bars in this guide that allow smoking in the whole room admit nobody aged 20 or under: The TRAD, which states this is under the local ordinance, and The Auditorium. Both also state that they do not serve alcohol to anyone who arrived by car or bicycle. In Shibuya, Oreryu Gyozaro allows smoking and its page mentions no non-smoking section.

For clear air, the venues that state they are non-smoking throughout are, in Ueno, 2nd COOPER, UENO TORIFUKU, Tachinomi Kadokura, Ramen Kamo to Negi and Shutei Juraku Ueno, which allows it only at its outside seats; in Shinjuku, Tsunahachi, Sushizanmai Shinjuku East, Sushizanmai Higashi-Shinjuku, YONA YONA BEER WORKS and FUUNJI; and in Shibuya, GONPACHI, SUSHI GONPACHI, Sushizanmai Tokyu Honten-mae, KAIKAYA, Sushi Ito Ikkan, Tower's Bar BELLOVISTO and Oreryu Shio-Ramen. Isomaru Suisan in Ueno, Nishi-Shinjuku and Shibuya, together with Chiba-chan, SHIROKIYA, YAMAUCHI NOUJOU and UOTAMI, put smokers in a separate booth.

Age limits differ between two yakitori chains minutes apart. At TORIKIZOKU, in Ueno, Shinjuku and Shibuya, people under 20 may enter only with a guardian or someone aged 20 or over, with no alcohol served to them; at KUSHIKATSU TANAKA they may come without an adult, because the restaurant does not serve them alcohol — and at the Hyakkendana branch anyone aged 19 or under can order a soft drink and play rock-paper-scissors with the staff for a free one. Staff may ask for identification in either place, and the Tokyo ordinance on the healthy development of young people bars anyone under 18 from a karaoke box between 23:00 and 4:00.

Four Shibuya venues set a harder line. Tower's Bar BELLOVISTO admits nobody under 20 after 18:00, even with a parent or guardian. clubasia and WOMB are strictly for guests aged 20 and over at night events and check photo identification at the door — a driving licence, a passport or a My Number Card. Bar Ishinohana asks guests to be 20 or over and admits nobody under 20 in any circumstances.

Outdoors, the cigarette rule changes with the ward boundary

This is the rule visitors break most often, because the streets look identical and the law is not. Nothing here is about atmosphere; these are the rules the wards themselves publish.

Shibuya is the one to take seriously. The ward collected 27,516 of those fines in the year to March 2026, and it has been collecting them since July 2019. Its own published answers are blunt on two points. Not knowing the rule is not a defence: the ward cites a 2014 Tokyo High Court judgment holding that anyone who chooses to smoke in the street has a duty to check whether it is allowed there, road markings included. And the fine is a formal administrative penalty, so unpaid ones are pursued like unpaid tax, up to seizing money from a bank account.

The way out of it is the same in both wards: use a designated place. In Shinjuku the public smoking places include the east exit plaza and the west exit ground-level rotary at Shinjuku Station, the southeast exit under the elevated road, the spot beside the Yasukuni-dori Dai-Guard in front of Seibu-Shinjuku Station, and Takadanobaba Station plaza. In Shibuya the ward's own places include the Moyai Statue and the scramble crossing by Shibuya Station, the foot of Miyamasuzaka, the new south exit, both exits at Ebisu Station and the Takeshita exit at Harajuku, all open around the clock apart from the New Year period; indoor rooms inside Shibuya PARCO, Shibuya Stream, MIYASHITA PARK, Shibuya Fukuras and Shibuya Sakura Stage keep their building's hours. Both wards note that these lists change, and Shibuya warns that bad weather can close an outdoor one.

Drinking on the street is banned in Shibuya every night

Since 1 October 2024, Shibuya has banned drinking alcohol between 18:00 and 5:00, every day of the year, in public spaces such as the streets, the parks and the area around Shibuya Station. The ward's own English notice puts it in a line: drinking alcohol is banned from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily in public spaces such as on the streets, parks, and around Shibuya Station. It replaced a rule that had applied only at Halloween and New Year, because street drinking had become an everyday thing.

The banned area is the heart of the nightlife district: Center-gai, Dogenzaka up to the Dogenzaka-ue police box, Udagawacho, the Hachiko statue, Shibuya Mark City, Shibuya Fukuras, SHIBUYA 109, Shibuya PARCO, Shibuya Loft, MIYASHITA PARK, Shibuya Hikarie and Shibuya Scramble Square. Outside that boundary the ward sets no ban but states a ward-wide goal of zero nuisance street drinking. A ward-supported event can have the restriction lifted for a stated time and place, which is why you will occasionally see an exception.

Shinjuku works the other way round: the restriction is for named dates, not every night. Under the ward's ordinance on a safe and orderly environment around Shinjuku Station, street drinking is restricted on 31 October and 1 November, plus any further period the mayor designates, in Shinjuku 3-chome and part of Kabukicho 1-chome. For 2026 that means from 17:00 on Saturday 31 October to 5:00 on Sunday 1 November. During it the ward asks shops in the area to stop selling alcohol, puts staff on patrol to tell people drinking in the street to stop, and bans three things outright: using fire, climbing street lights or buildings, and making noise with audio equipment. The ward's own message is short — if you want a drink, have it in a venue, under that venue's rules.

Neither ward publishes a fine for street drinking. Both send staff to ask you to stop.

Trains stop between about midnight and 1:00

Every railway line through Ueno, Shinjuku and Shibuya stops running somewhere between about midnight and 1:00, so the decision about your last train gets made at the table rather than on the platform. Check the time for your own line and direction on the day, because it differs by line, by direction and between weekdays and weekends.

The windows that sell tickets close before the trains do. At JR Ueno Station the ticket offices at the Iriya, Central and Shinobazu exits sell until 23:50, but the Park Exit office closes at 20:00. Money is earlier still: at Keisei Ueno Station the currency exchange counter closes at 19:00 and the tourist information centre at 18:30, so change money before dinner.

If you do miss the last train, the answer differs by area. In Ueno, three venues here are open 24 hours: Isomaru Suisan Ueno 6-chome, ICHIRAN and Ramen Kamo to Negi. Shinjuku has three of its own — Isomaru Suisan Nishi-Shinjuku, ICHIRAN and Nagi in Golden Gai — plus SHIROKIYA, Sushizanmai Higashi-Shinjuku and Albatross G until 5:00. Shibuya runs latest of all: Oreryu Shio-Ramen on Center-gai serves until 7:00, Sushizanmai Tokyu Honten-mae until 6:00, and ICHIRAN and Isomaru Suisan run around the clock. The full set of hours is on What's open late in Tokyo.

Street touting is illegal in all three areas, and the ban is on the tout

Every ward in this guide bans touting in public places, and in each one the offence belongs to the tout and to the business, not to you. There is no penalty for the customer anywhere.

Taito and Bunkyo ban touting in a public place for bars, izakaya, karaoke boxes and adult businesses across the whole ward, under ordinances in force since 2017. Scouting people and waiting on the street for customers are banned in the same way, and it is an offence for a venue to seat a customer a tout brought in. Both wards designate a stricter district — Ueno 2-chome, 4-chome and 6-chome in Taito, and Yushima 3-chome in Bunkyo — where a tout who continues after guidance, a warning and a formal recommendation faces a fine of up to ¥50,000.

Shinjuku has banned touting for izakaya and karaoke venues, street scouting, and loitering or waiting around for either purpose since September 2013, and added penalties in June 2016. A tout who ignores guidance, a warning and a recommendation can be named publicly and fined up to ¥50,000 — and so can their employer, because the rule applies to both. The ward designates five specified districts where it enforces hardest: Kabukicho 1-chome and 2-chome, Shinjuku 2-chome and 3-chome, and Nishi-Shinjuku 1-chome. Two things it explicitly does not ban, so you will still see them: handing out tissues or flyers to passers-by, and staff calling out from in front of their own shop.

Shibuya has had a ban since 2014 and strengthened it on 1 April 2025, adding fines and powers to inspect premises. The ward bans four acts in any public place in Shibuya: touting, waiting around for someone to tout, recruiting people to work, and waiting around to recruit. Taking in a customer a tout brought, or taking on someone a recruiter approached, is covered too. The ward also designates awareness districts where it concentrates: roughly 700 metres around Shibuya Station, 600 metres around the Jingumae crossing, 400 metres around Ebisu Station and 300 metres around every other station in the ward. Someone who carries on after guidance and a formal recommendation faces a ¥50,000 fine, their employer faces a separate ¥50,000 fine, both names are published on the ward's website, and the owner of the building is told.

The police explain why the rules are this specific. They list Ueno and Yushima among the districts where illegal touts gather, record unauthorised card charges and drunk customers being made to withdraw cash at an ATM, and state that the harm occurs mostly at venues a tout had led people into. Chiba-chan states that it uses no touts and asks you to contact the restaurant if anyone claims to work for it.

Where to read next

What's open late in Tokyo sets out the closing times behind this page for all 64 venues, and Safe Areas for Night Walks covers the parks and the streets rather than the venues. For an evening rather than a rule, start with the night plans or an area page: Ueno, Shinjuku or Shibuya.

Every area in this guide

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

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