We traveled to Kabukicho and Golden-Gai, Tokyo’s red light district and discovered the Walt Disney World for alcoholics. Somehow, I actually remember some of the night we were there.
Getting Around
In order to better explore Kabukicho, we took a private tour booked through Voyagin. The tour guide we chose, Haruka (who can also be booked through her website at Gaijin Tours), was fantastic. When taking a tour of Kabukicho, and especially Golden-Gai, it is imperative that you have a friendly, engaging tour guide. You will be bar-hopping, so it helps to have someone who you enjoy conversing with.
Omoide Yokocho
Omoide Yokocho, or Memory Lane, is a winding alley in Shinjuku home to a number of yakitori and ramen stalls. As you wander through the alley, the scent of cooking yakitori is absolutely divine.
Kabukicho
Kabuikicho was originally planned to have a Kabuki theater built (thus the name) but due to financial problems, the theater was never built. Instead, the area quickly developed as a low-income residential zone. Later, the town transformed into the red-light district that it is today.
Kabukicho is home to thousands of bars (including Golden-Gai), nightclubs, love hotels, and hostess clubs. It is also home to the world-famous Robot Restaurant.
Golden-Gai
If you like to bar-hop, or if you like quirky bars, or if you just enjoy fun, Golden-Gai is the place to go. In a small area of Kabukicho consisting of six tight alleys there are over 200 bars.
Each one unique. Each one very small forcing you to interact with the other bar denizens. We loved Golden-Gai. In fact, we changed my carefully prepared vacation plans just so we could go back a second day. Across the two days we went to six different bars. I do not have pictures of all of these bars as many of the owners do not want pictures taken.
First Bar
I wish I remembered the name of the first bar we went to (I’m sorry!). We had an amazing bottle of sake (I wish I remembered the name of the sake also, ugh). Everyone was warm and friendly, which was nice as at this point I didn’t know what to expect in Golden-Gai. They served us small plates of food which were very good. The barkeep made a special dish of persimmon and soy which was so amazing.
Bar Uramen (ウラメン)
Bar Uramen was a recommendation from Haruka when she found out we were big gaming nerds (or at least I am). The bar is classic video game themed. They had old cartridges, Secret of Mana projected on the wall, classic theme music playing, and an owner who loved video games. He asked us not to post pictures online, but suffice it to say the bar’s atmosphere was really cool.
Open Book
Ever wanted to drink some of the most amazing drinks while in a library? Well that is effectively what Open Book was. The dark beer I had was easily the best beer I had in Tokyo, while Renata fell for the Lemon Sour. We made a second appearance the next day. It also helped that we actually recognized one of the books among all of the Japanese titles: Ryu Murakami’s Coin Locker Babies. We fell in love with this bar.
Not Suspicious
Not Suspicious was a suspicious looking bar with a lined notebook paper sign warning potential customers that the bar may or may not be suspicious. The bar itself was lined with small notes left by customers. Very cool idea.
Deathmatch in Hell
If you like horror movies and metal, Deathmatch in Hell is for you. All around the bar were horror movie memorabilia. The best touch of the bar was the menu, all drink prices were set to 666 yen.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow was a crisp, artsy looking bar with two of the coolest people we met in Golden-Gai. While it may be true that some of the bars do not want to deal with foreigners, don’t let that discourage you. Tomorrow was the exact opposite of that mentality. We had a blast conversing, through language barriers, with the barkeep and his friend all night. While the other bars were fun with the atmosphere, Tomorrow was all about the people, and we loved that.
Conclusion
Kabukicho, and more specifically Golden-Gai were the highlights of our entire trip to Japan. Renata and I both agreed that if all we did while in Japan was spend our time in Kabukicho, it still would have been worth the trip. Golden-Gai has no equal and must be experienced. There have been rumors that Golden-Gai might get razed for the 2020 Olympics, which would be an absolute travesty. I hope the rumors are not true, because we will be stopping by Golden-Gai during our next trip to Tokyo. If you decide to visit Golden-Gai and Kabukicho (which you should), make sure to book your tour with Gaijin Tours, which I am totally fine shamelessly plugging because Haruka was so awesome!