Tokyo standing bar : Takioka

Salarymen lined along the bar Okachimachi district (Tokyo)
Now, THAT is a nice line of salarymen enjoying their moment of rest : except for us three, they were everywhere around in this place, making the best of their drink and desserved respite before the (presumably long) commute to their home. Again, here is a tachinomya which is not for asthmatic patrons, several men smoking without it raising the eyebrows around, I love Japan for that... Here in this place the service was differently organized, there were waiters coming and going, taking your order and bringing it back to you, there was even a young woman among them, B. was well inspired to join, this tachinomi wasn't that segregated after all (the previous one had two women serving behind the counter, though).

Leafing through a manga This very active and often-crowded tachinomi is the best value around, according to our friend Mamada, and the prices are indeed slightly cheaper for the same quality of sake compared to the one we went to a couple of days before. This time, B. accepted to come along (although reluctantly I must say), given the assurance that we would go at a more urbane venue afterwards. Like Aji No Fue, this tachinomi is a long room with a relatively narrow width, and the ordering counter is also left hand, even if a bit longer. There's a guy grilling yakitoris on the front window and this is a powerful incitation to walk in, and from the crowd lining the bar we're not the only ones to have succumbed to the temptation. The salaryman on the forefront is reading a manga and I noticed several times in other bars in Tokyo lonely patrons leafing through their manga. It seems that there's no stigma attached to this type of literature even for grownups in Japan. In France a similar company employee would not feel very comfortable when reading this type of comics in public. Yakitoris on the making Can you resist the smell of these yakitoris and the view when you walk along a narrow pedestrian street in the buzzing commercial neighborhood of Ueno/Okachimachi ? No way. From my limited experience here is another standing bar or tachinomya worth a visit and even many visits when you regularly spend time for example in the electronics distric of Akihabara, which is not far from there (only one stop south on the Yamanote JR line). Akihabara is by the way not only everything electronics, but is is a high spot for manga, anime and also cosplay bars where you're served by girls dressed like fancy maids (don't expect any report on this, though)... It seems by the way that the Cosplay scene has moved from Harajuku to Akihabara, which is surprising when you consider the original electronics nature of this neighborhood. I saw one of these maid cafés which was located at the 4th story of a shopping building at a corner on the large thoroughfare, it looks rather innocent, patrons were teenagers from what I remember. See this video on left, I think it was shot there.

Here in this tachinomi, you'll get a taste of real, working-class Japan, with a place where you can drink your lot of sake with side dishes (among them excellent yakitoris) and not get broke. A quick word on the area : it's a maze of small streets with no traffic, just pedestrians and a dense concentration of small businesses, shops, pachinko parlors, restaurants, bars, multi-story shopping arcades and so on. In the evening, it's crowded with people shopping and going out after work, there are neons and light everywhere and the sound of japanese girls or street barkers hailing passerbys and shouting to get new customers inside their pachinko hall or whatever business they're working for. What a noise in the pachinko temples too when you pass one, with the steel balls falling relentlessly inside the machines, that's also part of the soundscape of Japanese red districts. Just a stroll makes this place worth a visit, and there's no drop in activity any day of the week : in Japan, sunday is like any other weekday for the business and street life, and shops and depaatos are open just the same. The street signs are full blown in the evening, and if each business has made efforts to curtail its electricity consumption by 10 % since the power shortage caused by the turning off of N plants (from what I heard), you don't feel it in the lighting and signs brightness. The real thing A guy comes at our table and comes back later to fill our glasses, same treat of overflowing sake so that we feel like we're given the chance to drink two glasses instead of one. This time, the masu square cup is in lacquered plastic this time, which I actually prefer because the wooden ones often have leaks. If you look for some at cheap prices, go to a Daiso 100-Yen shop, they're of pretty good basic quality and finishing, and cost 105 Yen (tax included) which is pretty hard to beat. We're using these for apéritif buiscuits in Paris (sorry for the blasphemy...). The most well-know Daiso shop (and the largest) is if course the one located on Takeshita dori (Harajuku station on Yamanote), there are 4 stories including the basement, full of items. Here is a Web page about the Harajuku Daiso, which happens to be in an otherwise interesting pedestrian street, with lots of youth. These hyaku-en shoppu like they're called here are one the economic oddities of this country.
B. decided to be careful and ordered an Oo Long tea, you really can get other beverages than sake in a tachinomi... But she wisely decided to join us in our sake experience and ordered one of them later. You really can't walk in here and be content with a cup of tea.
But speaking of tea, the guys at the next table had this strange green beverage, it is called Aojiru, and it is very trendy these days, being supposed to be good for health (maybe the guy at this table was trying to cure a hangover). I'm really sorry not to have tasted this Aojiru, its tastes is said to be strange.
If you're familiar with Japanese, click on the picture on right, you have the prices for all the side dishes in this tachinomi (100 Y = 1,2 USD or 0,92 €). As you can see, most dishes cost from 150 Y to 200 Y, with a few at 300 Y. Who said Tokyo was an expensive city ? Our Yakitoris Mamada was right : these yakitoris are just delicious, so tasty and fresh. They're made from chicken meat, and this goes very well with the sake, it seems. There are other types of skewers called kushiyaki, when there's no meat on them. Eating like that while drinking sake, you can handle lots more without feeling tired, I experienced that in Russia too, whatever the volume of vodka I was having, with all the tasty zakuski I had, I kept my ideas clear and never had a hangover. the sake glasses The two types of sake we chose were :
For Mamada, Houju, a Junmai Ginjo from Hiroshima at 360 Yen. Well priced, and there are cheaper sakes by the glass in this tachinomi. Means again that you can enjoy good drinks at fair prices in this town.
I got a Kikusui Junmaisyu, which comes from Niigata if I understand correctly. Both were very nice, the former being maybe more refined, but I liked mine too. As said, B. had her tea and just sipped a bit of our sake to see how they tasted. After-work chat All the while drinking your sake and picking pieces of meat, it's a pleasure to look around and see the routine of a standing bar in Tokyo. These people are doing their part during the day in whatever business they happen to work, and this bar next door is their desserved reward, but somehow it's still part of their work life too, as many come is small groups of co-workers. That's interesting. Some employees are probably with upper echelon executives and keep their bowing attitude while trying to relax. But on the whole, I have the feeling that people let their guard down, here, and just enjoy. The bottom of the tachinomi The tachinomi has a few tables in the back of the bar, and they look like wine casks Trying another sake At one point; B. wanted to try a non-pasteurized sake as she saw they had one : here is bottle of unpasteurized (Nama) Oseki sake. Oseki is a major brand of sake making big volumes worldwide. The big Kanji sign on the right means Nama in Japanese, or unpasteurized. You can try to remember it when you try to make your choice among bottles. The taste is actually a bit bland, but it was served at a colder temperature than the others, that may be why. In this tachinomi, they also have an unfiltered Migori sake, the ones that have a white, milky color. We tasted one at Mamada's place but while interesting to taste, it is not my favored type of sake at this point. After a few hours when the bottle is open, I had the impression that the sake got thicker, like milk turning to kefir. Surfing the web You do everything in a tachinomi, you read your mail, make a business deal, that's your after-hours office where pleasure meets work... Takioka from the outside This picture will help you visualize and locate this excellent standing bar. Don't be put off by the drab look of the street side, you'll not regret your bold move through the door. Also, this place is quite roomy (better say deep) which is not the case with the very old types of shitamashi standing-bars which were really cramped and uneasy to move in or out. Bloody makeup... This was not in the same part of town, but these two otherwise-charming girls were shopping in a Family-Mart konbini near Ikebukuro when I stumbled upon them around an aisle. I almost dropped my onigiris (wrapped triangular rice balls) at the sight but soon recovered and asked for a picture, which they kindly accepted...I love Japan...



Takioka Tokyo Taito Ueno 6-9-14 Location on map Street view of Takioka

Comments

[hikalu]

I would drop it if I see the bloody makeup girl. for a party? lol

[Peter M]

I enjoyed this article as others read. You have a really nice blog.

The administrator,
www.GreekFoodShop.com

[Avvinare]

I loved this piece. It made me want to visit immediately and drink Sake, although I do like that unpasteurized version better.

[Kai]

A nice Blog !
Thanks , with greetings from Germany !

Weinshop Becker