Kansai, Japan
Here we go again, and if there's something I'd never miss in Japan, it is having a good time in a standing bar (called tachinomiya here) in the evening, when the crowd of white-collar salarymen flood them after work on their way to the train station where they'll later catch the train home... I'll try not to repeat myself but Japan is a highly pragmatic country, where modernism hasn't excluded tradition and fun. Political correctness never really took hold here and coercitive regulations may exist on the paper but in the real world there's a pragmatic laissez faire : people smoke in bars, some tiny venues are engulfed in barbecue fumes with no civilian zealot to harass the "perpetrators" or report these things to the administration, and when you're aware of the gap with the situation of our own countries it's a breath of fresh air to spend time in these working-class bars. To top it all, you're not looked upon on a negative way when you happen to have had more booze than you could handle after your hard day's work. Japan is a pretty cool country in many ways even if I know it has also strict codes and there's pressure from the group and the society we may not be aware of when we're not living here and speak the language...
Here are a few standing bars I went to in Osaka & Kyoto, some I went alone (it is definetely possible for a gaijin, you'll not be thrown out), some with Keizou & Matt.
This was my first evening in Osaka, I ventured in the narrow alleys near Namba station, a major train/metro hub and these standing bars are usually clustered near such railway crossroads. There was for me things and views that reminded me of Piss Alley near Shinjuku in Tokyo, with cramped venues and short, crowded counters, with always the question when you wonder if you'll find a spot on the counter. You hardly find such light-hearted street atmosphere in Paris, and Bastille or Saint-Maur/Oberkampf can't compete in any level with this multi-generational, safe and affordably-priced bar area...
Here is the place I ended up sneaking in, it is a tachinomiya where they serve whale dishes (excellent if politically uncorrect...). A young salaryman who was speaking some English gestured in my direction to show I could have a spot on the side after spotting me looking inside wondering I there was some place left. I could have stayed outside like these salarymen but there's more excitement along the cramped counter as you can see thz staff busy preparing the drinks and shouting the orders. I shot most of this pictures with my phone because it's somehow more discreet and casual that take out a real-size camera, and this phone is quite good picture wise (Oppo Realme 3 Pro), for a change compared to my former Xperia (awful in this regard).
This venue was specialized (i learnt that from the guy who pointed an empty spot along the counter) in the sake of a brewery in the Nara region , Chiyo shuzo [brewery], and this seems to be a small brewery where the head brewer Tetsuya Sakai (who started his carrer as a winemaker in Yamanashi) likes to experiment with fermentation temperature and rice types. Was very lucky ! Loved my first sake of the trip.
Here is why I love these tachinomi, they're cramped and noisy, but real places where people have genuinely fun, plus this was a friday evening, certainly an even better time to go out and experience these relieved employees after a long workweek. I feel that you'll have more women there on fridays and on weekends (the tachonmiya public is otherwise known to be predominantly male). You can see the guy on the left reaching for a cigarette, and the tabelog page for this venue confirms it's a smoking-allowed bar... I love Japan ! [although not a smoker myself]
At one point I was casually filming with my phone in one of these alleys to catch the lights and gentle atmosphere of this area near Namba station when this guy showed up with his guitar, he was certainly heading to one of the bars there... For the directions to this Kujira tachinomiya, see the map on the tabelog page, and if it's really full you'll have other great such places nearby. Namba is the heart of Minami [south] Osaka with a vibrant entertainment and bar/restaurant scene, but there are nice places to find elsewhere in Osaka as well.
I'll be more discreet about the exact location of this tachinomiya (standing bar) in Kyoto (same as the one pictured on top of this story), this is a very nice spot for having sake with great food, and it's pretty rare and unusual in Kyoto in the sense that this cultural capital of Japan has few of these working-class style bars where you stand to
drink (立ち飲みで) along the
counter and down a few glasses with colleagues (Osaka & Tokyo have many more of these). For this reason and given the worrying number of western tourists who flock to this town (in winter it seemed already a lot but in the warmer seasons it must be beyond bearable) I prefer not to make this place too easily findable. Let's say that it is not far from the train station, which is natural for such a venue, and if you look hard, you'll find it I'm sure (I shouldn't post it but my picture of the outside may help you for sure). In case you get in there and don't speak Japanese, order randomly or by showing what your neighbor has, and say "nihonshu" for sake or "biiru" for beer.
The tabelog page for the place has visitors comment positively on the many dishes to go with the drinks, they're prepared here and the prices start at 100 (0,85 €) ¥, 200 ¥, 300 ¥. Regarding the drinks again it's pretty cheap compared to what you'd have in Paris, the cheapest sake costs 280 ¥ (2,3 €) with more qualitative sake cuvées at 500 ¥ (4,1 €), you have two wines (one red, one white, no more details on the signs) at 500 ¥, and a large beer is 450 ¥ (3,7 €). There are other drinks like shochu anf highball (whisky with ice & water). If you give yourself 2000 ¥ per head (16,5 €) you'll certainly have a good time with both the food and the drinks. Thank you Keizou for finding this place for me !
One of the reasons winter is a good time to visit Japan is that at this time you'll have oden, a typical winter dish here that have people get excited when it begins to appear in such bars. these are different thinks soaking in hot broth, eggs, tofu, vegetables. Not my typical choice when I'm here but I'm ready to learn... Lots of staff behind the counter, again I'm always surprised at how such places with this cheap menus can employ so many people, the regulations, direct/undirect taxes and compulsory contributions must be much lighter in this country than in France.
This Kyoto izakaya is outstanding in many regards, small place, unpretentious, out of the beaten path but top table for the quality of its food
(including sashimi and beef) and sake selection. No tourists there, only knowledgeable Kyoto residents who know why they're coming here.
It is located near Karasuma station (Hankyu line connecting Kyoto to Osaka-Umeda). I'll not name it to keep it out of the mass-tourism reach although if you look closer you may find its details. You need to reserve to eat here because the place is highly sought after given its quality and good value. Expect still to spend more of course, in the range of 6000 ¥ to 8000 ¥ (50 € to 66 €) per person drinks included.
here are the sake i had, I was told where they came from and other details but i didn't take note (or if I did, I have to put my hand on them). Like elsewhere, the glasses are filled overflowing in the flat cup beneath. In more old style places you have a wooden or laquered square masu instead of a flat cup, makes more sake to recover and drink ;-)
Here we're in a different city and world, Osaka around Kyobashi station, a metro/rail connecting hub which is lesser known or flashy than Namba and nearby Dotombori (the latter while crowded with domestic and foreign visitors is still fun). While Kyoto has this aristocratic-culture feel that makes standing bars unusual, Osaka is an active commercial city with lots of workers needing to relax at the end of the day. Look at this subway lines map, all these stations are magnets for bars, this is really sin city.... We didn't stop there, full and maybe lacked this little something that could have made it exciting.
This it how it looks around Koyobashi station, sometimes the bars are open on the street (with a tarpaulin in the cold season to keep it warm, like here on left), sometimes closed with a regular shop window. These places and alleys like often in Japan will look bland and uninteresting during the day but with the night and the lights, it changes into an exciting, cozy landscape lined with inviting venues. All you have to do is walk along and ponder which tachinomiya or izakaya offers the best deal, including for the atmosphere.
This one was a great choice ! It looked packed & full from the street side (which is on the opposite side from where i shot this video) but the waiters told us to come around through a back door opening right at the back of the counter where they had enough room for the three of us. Man, this was a good, vibrant tachinomiya as you can have a glimpse of its atmosphere in the video. Messy, cramped, unpretentions, everything i like in those places, and good prices for everything.
this place is named Marushin and here is the owner who is running it for decades. The tabelog page for this tachinomiya has visitors praise the place, both newcomers and regulars love it, the former feeling welmcome instantly thanks to the friendly staff and owner. Reading
the comments (Google translate) on Tabelog is funny, a poem, there's this guy who says he was in Namba it was cold and damp, he bought a mask to protect his throat and took the train to Kyobashi to visit the place, and so on, a real movie or novel, love it ! Marushin enjoys a certain recognition in the neighborhood from what I understand, and from my unexpert point of view this is deserved.
Again, some people smoke in this standing bar, even__OMG__the owner (pic on left), we couldn't be more estranged from the ways and rules in place in hygienist Europe, imagine how it'd trigger in our home countries a crowd of self-appointed hygienist police rushing to their keybords to flag the place through twitter/facebook mobs, and lawsuits... But here pragmatism reigns, and also a focus on common ground for common good, something that can't be ruled by ideology, we're in Asia, this makes a big difference from Europe/North America. This is another civilization, other values here, for my part I don't mind at all when someone smokes in a bar, find it a proof of refreshing permissiveness in everyday life. This said, the Japanese can show themselves much less permissive than Western Europe in other matters, following again their focus for the common good.
From the counter in a tachinomiya you see everything, you bath in the kitchen atmosphere, watch the guy slicing the fish expertly and arrange the sashimi plates, fill the glasses almost overflowing on the counter, add the price on his
small piece of paper after adding a dish
for your party, all is transparent here, they didn't wait Joël Robuchon to let the patrons watch everything. and the prices are so affordable indeed, our sake glass was 310 ¥ (2,5 €) and the various plates we had were 360 ¥ (3 €), 170 ¥ (1,4 €), 400 ¥ (3,3 €), 510 ¥ (4,2 €), 380 ¥ (3,1 €) tax included, which was pretty cheap to share between us. I don't remember if we took another glass here, possibly not because we intended to visit yet another place and it was safer to still be able to drink something there...
For those of you who can't read Japanese, there's the dish list on the left with prices. again if you land in one of these bars but don't understand anything in Japanese, just show you neighbor's plate and gesture that you want this. By the way the Japanese patrons themselves seem to order beer more often than nihonshu (sake), and i hope sake will rebound as the favorite drink.
Here we're back at Namba station, Osaka, near which I walked around to find something simple,
working class without tourists, and here is this place which even though a bit ordinary was a good tachinoiya for having a glass of sake and a plate of something to eat. I have a hard time finding where this place is located, I remember this was a side street with fewer restaurants, more locals. The picture on the side may help but the place doesn't stand out anyway.
The bill was indeed very light as you can see, 290 ¥ (2,4 €) for this small jug of sake and 200 ¥ (1,65 €) for this plate of tofu; not high en cuisine but what would you get in Paris for 4 € ??? Like you can guess with the previous picture, when I was asked what to eat (I somehow understood the question) I just pointed to the plate of my elderly neighbor...
Then one day I took the metro from Namba to Temma station, a major train/metro station I had heard had a lot of bars, and I was not disappointed ! Here is a
place named Okuda, it's a huge standing bar or tachinomiya with a rectangular
counter large enough to have the staff work at ease in the middle to cater for the thirsty patrons. Baroque place with a vibrant atmosphere, working class and lots of salarymen but not as drab as the other place I visited in Namba.
Although there was no foreigners inside (Temma is a real neighborhood) the tachinomiya, they gave me a menu in English for the plates (see on the side) and you can see indeed how cheap this place is, as a reminder 100 ¥ makes 0,82 € or 0,9 $...I don't remember for the glass of sake i ordered but it was probable a bit more than 300 ¥ (2,5 € or 2,7 $). I understand why salarymen like to spend some time here with coworkers before boarding their train home...
I think I went there on a friday, if it's the case that may explain more women were there, and also couples. To visit this Okuda tachinomiya you have to reach Temma
station which is quite easy as it is along the JR Loop line, the equivalent of Tokyo's Yamanote line, it seemed to me also the one with the cheapest fares in Osaka. See directions to the standing bar here. If you're staying in Minami Osaka, Namba station for example it's better to walk to Ashiharabashi station on the loop line because otherwise you have to change trains.
The only crtic I have here is the glass of sake doesn't have its small cup underneath where they overflows, well it's part of the tradition to have this overflowing of sake in a masu or at least a small plate...
Correction : there were indeed a few foreigners here, you can guess then on the far side near the wall in the center, where they seem to have additional counters. You can see there are many people working, and you can also see that most people seem to order beer. The guy next to engaged the conversation with me, noticing I was looking around and taking pictures with my phone from time to time, he said the place was very well known and popular. I was lucky to find it because i did it by chance, just walking randomly in the small streets along the station.
Here is another tachinomiya (standing bar) near this resourceful Temma station (spelled also Tenma station). This isn't a big place and I could just find a spot on the left near the window.
Here are the directions near the Metro station, really close. The standing bar is cozy with these wooden signs on the wall that bring a classy touch.
If you look at this blog entry the food there is very yakitori (meat skewers) centered but I chose (probably pointing to the dish of another patron) for tripes instead of regular meat, something that surprised the guy near me (but in France we love these abats, intestines or other similar parts... The writer of the post highly recomends this place.
Kinmiya seems to be focused on pork dishes according to its Tabelog page, and there's a comment saying the main restaurant is located further north in Kanto, exactly in Narita, Chiba. Here's the picture of my plate, it's either pork intestines or stomach, but really tasty with its typical texture (that may feel disgusting if you're not familiar). I paid 760 ¥ altogether for the sake & skewers, or 6,2 € / 7 $, another great deal. the only thing is my spot was not ideal, but I'll come back one day to get a good spot on the counter.
You can't miss these narrow streets and alleys near Temma station, and when you step out of the train you can them below under the tracks. Another thing of interest : the JR loop line has free wifi in the trains in addition to the JR stations. Best is to set up the system when still in you home country following this procedure.
What I love in Japan big cities is you don't have your good time in a bar or restaurant spolied by a possibly nightmarish ride in the subway like it's an increasing problem in Paris, or having to walk along deteriorating underground corridors knowing that whatever happens there's no one from the RATP to intervene. The trains and subways may be crowded here, but with such a civility...
I wouldn't advise Dōtonbori in Minami Osaka for a genuine
tachinomiya experience
but you still find real places in spite of the number of tourists, take any side street and you may find something worth a try. The main street is really a caricature, circus like, but it's still fun to walk along and watch the giant fish- or crab signs of the different restaurants, same for the canal. The other thing is that you'll more likely to pay more here. The shopping arcades are exotic at first but they are pretty noisy with all the commercial advertising/screaming from the shops (the worse is Bic Camera). Speaking of Bic Camera at Namba/Dōtonbori (see directions on this page) they have a big liquor store on the street level (picture on right), it is really worth a visit, with whiskies, sake, shochu, Japanese vodka, gin, everything.
At one point in a narrow street near Namba station, I stumbled upon this place, I'll call it the sin corridor, it's inside a building, a very narrow corridor with bars on the sides all along, very surprising, the places were generally small and cramped.
there was a sign in there but it ended up being misleading, i thought initially (and I was certainly not the first gaijing to think so) that it meant something like drink all you can for 500 ¥ (4 € or 4,5 $) but it ended up being 500 ¥ for each type of drink. There's chatting in Osaka going on among foreigners that is about these all-you-can-drink options, known in Japanese as nomihodai (飲み放題) but I didn't try any. Usually you have something like 2 hoursd of unlimited drink (and eat if you choose the option) for 3000 ¥ (24,5 € - 27 $) or 4000 ¥ (33 € - 36 $). You can find many such all-you-can-drink izakayas on this Tabelog page, but if you don't speak Japanese some of these places may be difficult.
I walked inside the room, it looked very amateurish for the counter and equipment with plywood on the walls, I made myself understand that I wanted some sake ans sipped it while looking around. these other people maybe chose this place because the other bars were so full.
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