Where to Drink: Japan 🇯🇵

No country in the world has created its own distinct cocktail culture like Japan. 

You can find a good drink in any city of a certain size, and all good bars know how to utilize local ingredients to put their mark on a classic cocktail. But that’s the difference between Japan and everywhere else—they don’t just leave their mark. They’ve remade the whole damn thing.

I could never make a ranked list of my favorite bars in Japan (there are just too many good ones!), but here are a few faves that I always make a point to return to.

Now, in no particular order...

SG Club (Tokyo)

SG Club is not a surprising pick, but it’s a well known bar (and quickly growing empire) for a reason. Their namesake location is a three-story building in Shibuya, and each floor has its own menu.

The top floor (Savor) is a members-only cigar club, the main floor (Guzzle) is focused on long, refreshing drinks, and the basement level (Sip) specializes in bold, liquor-forward drinks. 

Despite this ambitious setup, all the drinks are creative, memorable, and executed perfectly. The ones that will stick with me are the Tom Yum Goong, which is a bubbly, refreshing version of exactly what it sounds like, and the Charlie Brown Old Fashioned, which was another wagyu old fashioned riff that proves I clearly have a type.

One of the reasons this bar rates so high for me is because they have something for everyone, but they haven’t let themselves become middling. The menu has a consommé cocktail for god’s sake. (When I ordered it, the waiter asked if I was in the industry because only bartenders order it lolz.) This is hard to do, especially across three different menus, and yet it all feels seamless at SG Club.

Make a reservation a month before your trip, or show up before they open to try your luck at a seat. And then buy Lubby a drink, and tell him Caro says hi. 😄

Ben Fidditch

One of a kind cocktails with a master bartender

The “no menu” style at it’s finest! Serving up creative and modern cocktails, owner-bartender Hiroyasu Kayama is a legend with few peers.

Reservations are required so make one well in advance. Also, the team loves whiskey highballs and is very appreciative of folks who buy them a round. 😉

Virtu

Great hospitality from a badass bar team

This hotel bar inside the Four Seasons has great signature cocktails, but the hospitality is on another level. The team is attentive without being overbearing, classy without being stuffy, and incredibly welcoming.

The first time I visited Virtu, I went in for “a drink or two” and stayed all night. And it's since become a required stop on any Tokyo trip.

Say hi to Albie and Shrestha for me!

Qwang

Neighborhood bar vibes (and real food!)

This authentic-style bar is a favorite of my friend Hinako and, after visiting, it was easy to see why.

Owner-bartender Yasuhiro Hasegawa serves up creative cocktails that skew tropical, and they pair perfectly with the Thai food cooked up by his wife, Junko Hasegawa.

It's a great spot to pre-game for the nearby Tokyo Confidential, or just enjoy a quieter atmosphere. I'm always shocked by how rarely it comes up in recommendations!

Rock Fish

The best highball

Not quite a hole-in-the wall... but definitely a small spot squirreled away on the 7th floor of a nondescript building.

A whisky highball is the quintessential Japanese bar order, and the owner-bartender here has spent decades perfecting his recipe. It's the perfect drink to kick off a bar crawl of Tokyo's Ginza neighborhood.

Heads up: You are likely to be the only foreigner in this spot but folks are very welcoming. Just mind your manners and your volume!

Osaka: Inc & Sons

The first bar I went to in Osaka, and the one I measured all subsequent bars against! 

Inc & Sons is a larger basement bar where it’s always easy to get a seat and you never have to worry about a time limit. Which is good, because they have a large menu of signature cocktails, most of which are flavorful riffs on classics.

Hands down, the standout is the Wagyu Old Fashioned. I've brought numerous groups of friends here specifically to try this drink and they all agree, “This is the Old Fashioned I will compare all others to from now on.” (Cue me trying to recreate this drink as soon as I got back to Mexico…)

Also worth mentioning: the bartenders take turns putting on old records that make for the perfect background music.

Kyoto: Bee's Knees

Reservations aren’t common at Japanese bars, outside of a handful of super-popular ones in Tokyo. That’s usually a perk... until you’re in a city like Kyoto, where the bars are small and the crowds are large. 

Decide which bars you’re most excited about, and show up before they open to grab a seat or put your name on the list for later. This is always my approach with Bee’s Knees and it works well.

I show up just before it opens, put my name on the list, and usually get right in. Worst case, you can get a starter drink nearby and their app will notify you when your seats are ready.

It’s hard to pick a favorite drink from their menu because it's more about the whole experience, but top contenders include: the Truffle Bee’s Knees, Cookies and Cream, and Ninja Smash.

The thing that impressed me the most was the bartenders’ ability to walk the fine line between showmanship for the casual drinkers, while still making great, memorable cocktails for the drink nerds. It’s not a traditional Japanese cocktail bar at all, but it is definitely deserving of its spot on Asia’s best bar list!

Kobe: The Castle

Kobe is a seafront city that always seems to get lost in the bustle of nearby Osaka and Kyoto. But if you find yourself with time in town, I highly recommend stopping by The Castle.

It's a huge bar by Japanese standards, with an eclectic mix of furniture and decor that stands out among all the dark wood and cozy appointments found nearly everywhere else. And the drinks!

I only found out about this bar through a local friend’s rec (s/o to Ken!) but they really deserve more hype. The Domme in particular was the rum, whiskey, and chocolate Old Fashioned that I didn’t know I wanted.

Hiroshima: Bar Alegre

Sometimes you just open a drink menu that makes you go, “Yessss,” and that was Bar Alegre for me. I immediately started strategizing my drink orders (plural) because I knew I wasn't going to get out of there without trying a few.

The standout for me was ironically the “Nomad Negroni,” a highball take on the classic drink that was made with the local Sakurao Gin and smoked with palo santo. (I’ll take “ingredients I didn’t expect to find in Japan'' for $400, Alex.)

Pro tip: Ask to move to the speakeasy after you finish your first drink!

Fukuoka: Bar Oscar

Bar Oscar is an authentic bar in all the best ways—dark and cozy, quiet murmuring over light jazz, and a casual but classy feel. The owner and bartender makes every drink with precision.

Their menu is light on details—drink names organized by style (long vs short) with no other details. So, roll the dice or ask for a recommendation.

After I expressed a desire to try the Okinawan rum that I spotted behind the bar, Nagatomo-San made me the most memorable cocktail I had in Fukuoka. The base was One Spirit Rum in the style of an Old Fashioned, but with the flavor of a carajillo, and cacao nibs on the side. (I'm a stirred cocktail girl, if you couldn't tell.)

The service here was also lovely—Nagatomo-San took the time to make a list of his favorite bars in all the cities I planned to visit, introduced me to several local spirits he thought I’d like, and followed up after my visit to share a photo of us that he took.

Bar Oscar really came to embody omotenashi for me, and was definitely my favorite "authentic" bar of the trip.

Naha, Okinawa: El Lequio

El Lequio is a bar that could only exist in Okinawa, and I loved that (and many other things) about it. 

The menu is heavily influenced by the Ryukyu kingdom (which ruled the area between the 1400s-1800s) and (somewhat inexplicably) Latin culture. Almost every drink is made with shochu and awamori (two local spirits), or tequila and mezcal. And they are all funky AF—in a good way! 

El Lequio’s drinks are not for everyone, but they are the kind of drinks that made me flip open the menu again after taking a sip because I couldn’t identify what I was drinking. Also, they are not afraid to be bold - as evidenced by the drink that literally includes “goat” as a main ingredient. 

The decor matches the drinks (lush and tropical) and the space is also large enough that you can just walk in and settle in. And that’s exactly what you will want to do once you start chatting with the great bartenders. (Buy Hiyori and Shion a drink for me!)

Looking for more recommendations in Japan?

Check out Thank You For Waiting, which includes more recommended bars for the cities above, as well as a few not included here.

Plus, it includes links to all my Google Maps for Japan with +250 recommendations for food, booze, and things to do between drinks. Across a dozen different cities!