Jude Brand - The Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Aug 11, 2002

Fifteen years ago, Shokuan-dori was a dark no man's land trapped in the vacuum between Kabukicho and Shin-Okubo. The latter, at that time, was an area buzzing with life as it gained momentum as headquarters for Tokyo's non-Japanese Asian foreigners. But it wasn't until several years later that a few Korean restaurants opened nearby each other along Shokuan-dori and it became known as Little Seoul. Even so, with the exception of the odd Thai or Filipino streetwalker patrolling her beat, the area was still dead at night.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Jul 28, 2002

He's got jazz izakaya to an art form

Many newly opened bars and stores proudly display their year of establishment on the signage out front -- even if it just opened. Vagabond, a funky jazz izakaya in Shinjuku, is no exception. The signboard outside proudly boasts "Tavern Since 1976." When I arrived in 1981, this made me laugh. But now -- after 26 years of business -- it hangs proudly with the weight of the passing years.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Jul 21, 2002

Whet your appetite

If you know Bourbon Street, the New Orleans-style restaurant in Roppongi, chances are a friend introduced you. Sohan Ahluwalia vowed that he would never directly promote his restaurant but would let satisfied customers spread the word. And it worked. Sohan has put his heart and soul into creating his creole kitchen, and as it readies for its third birthday (July 25th), one routinely finds it necessary to wait for a table.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Jul 14, 2002

Where the surf's always up

Drunkard is an older form of the noun "drunk," which, according to my Concise Oxford English Dictionary, means "deprived of proper control of oneself by alcoholic liquor." Unlike its modern shortened form, it is not a word one hears used much these days, which gives it a slightly old-fashioned, almost anachronistic air. As such, it makes a perfect name for a soulful little neighborhood bar with an interesting history.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Jul 7, 2002

The lord of the dance

To Tokyo clubbers, the name Pylon conjures images of overly tanned and underdressed young women teetering precariously on high clogs as they dance para-para style -- glow sticks in hand -- atop a bar (or other elevated surface). And at their center will be a handsome young man, shirt slipping off his back and body aglow with sweat as he shakes a magnum of Champagne on his hip (this being a sign for those below to ready themselves with heads uplifted and mouths open to receive the ensuing overflow of bubbles).

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Jun 30, 2002

Back to lounge life as usual

"Live the life" is a motto that has worked for Mi-chan. Having begun her days as an assistant photographer, she soon discovered that she much preferred socializing. So when two of her favorite hangouts closed (Jirocho in Ebisu, and MC1000 in Shinjuku), she and party cohort Gera decided to open their own place.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Jun 16, 2002

Now that's the winning spirit

Like many, I have been bitten by World Cup fever -- though in my case that means prowling Roppongi looking for postgame action. While the English converge at Sports Cafe, throngs of Irish -- and an equal number of police -- have become a fixture every night in front of Paddy Foley's, regardless of whether or not Ireland played a game that day. Mexican fans have found their clubhouse at the Freshness Burger on the strip. After a win, you will find them crowding the street out front, playing spirited salsas on tin trumpets and accompanied by impromptu street percussion.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Jun 9, 2002

What's red, red and very, very sexy?

Red is an electric color. It incites bulls to charge and people to revolt. It is the color under which more than one country (and soccer team) rallies. It is the color of lust and passion. Red is provocative, but the emotion it evokes depends on the person and, sometimes, on the time of day.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Jun 2, 2002

Permanent collection of cool

Ebisu is not only full of little bars, it is full of similarly named bars, which can make things pretty confusing. Within a 50-meter radius, there's E, E-Cafe, Fura and Furo Furo -- see what I mean? So before we start, let's clear up a few things. E-Cafe is a cute 'n' cozy second-floor perch overlooking a temple, not that place on the third floor above a 24-hour ramen joint. Got it? Hope so . . .

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

May 26, 2002

Where to get your kicks

As Japan braces itself for the influx of soccer fans, the media is keeping a careful eye on potential hot spots -- including Roppongi, Tokyo's gaijin HQ. Though no World Cup matches will be played inside Tokyo, Roppongi is expected to take the brunt of post-game soccer fans out to celebrate their wins or -- perhaps worse -- drown their loses.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

May 19, 2002

Something close to home

Some of Tokyo's best little bars are hidden on tiny back streets in quiet residential neighborhoods. They are the kind of bars that one only discovers by living nearby -- or being taken there by someone who does. So when a friend called suggesting an outing to one of his favorite bars on the outskirts of Shimokitazawa, it took me less than a nanosecond to say yes.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

May 12, 2002

The song remains the same

Finding Endorphin for the first time was like unraveling a mystery. Word of mouth is an excellent source of leads, but sometimes the modern-myth syndrome kicks in as the word is passed along. The stories I accumulated for what I thought was one little rock bar in Jiyugaoka turned out to be for two bars -- which wasn't so much a problem as a bonus.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Apr 21, 2002

Whip me with your best shot

A frequent visitor to Tokyo for the past 20-plus years asked me whether I thought S/M was on the rise in Tokyo. The answer is both yes and no. Hardcore S/M bars have been discreetly operating throughout that period, but as with all specialty bars, they are controlled by a strict members-only door policy, i.e. no tourists. What has emerged and proliferated in recent years, though, are soft-core, user-friendly S/M theme bars.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Apr 14, 2002

Not that Nobu, just the opposite

Mention the name Nobu to most jet-setters and they will recall the international restaurants serving "nouvelle Japonais" cuisine. The one in Tokyo occupies a sprawling, bungalow-style structure that hogs an impressive chunk of street front on Roppongi-dori near Shibuya. But what all the globe-hopping gourmands who've eaten there don't know is that just across the street -- almost exactly opposite, in fact -- is another Nobu, which has been quietly operating on what was once a darkened stretch of road for the past 20 years.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Apr 7, 2002

One love, one heart, one glow

Shinkukan is a DJ bar and lounge that has slipped quietly into a curious niche in Tokyo's nightscape. Operating like a ninja, with stealth and under the cloak of darkness, it stole into a small basement in a quiet semi-residential area on the Jingumae side of Omotesando. It's not the greatest location for a nightclub, but it has survived -- for eight years already.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Mar 31, 2002

A hundred reasons, but one will do

By the time you read this, the last blossom may have already fallen from the deep banks of cherry trees that line the Meguro River as it sweeps through the back streets of Naka-Meguro. If not, then you are in luck. And you should put down your newspaper -- right now -- and head over to Cento Cose, a restaurant and bar complex tucked in on a quiet stretch where the river cuts under Yamate-dori headed for Ikejiri Ohashi.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Mar 24, 2002

Like a rolling stone but harder

Enter the words "rock" plus "Shinjuku" into the search engine of Tokyo's communal consciousness, and the result, "Rolling Stone" -- a rock 'n' grot dive of more than 20 years' standing in that neighborhood -- will always come back at the top of the list. Even Eggey, the owner of two hardcore Shinjuku rock lounges -- both simply called Black, with interiors to match -- first asked if I knew of it before settling down to chat with me.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Mar 17, 2002

There's inspiration around every corner

Nearly every expat in Tokyo knows Las Chicas, the hip neo-Asian garden restaurant that sprawls across the first floor of the Vision Network complex near Omotesando. But many may not realize that there is more to Vision Network than a Thai curry lunch special. A quick peek into the corners of the rambling split-level structure will reveal three little bars -- two very well-hidden -- each with its own individual personality and character.

LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE

Mar 10, 2002

Bartender, can you make that a double?

I was once asked to invent a list of bars with brief descriptions as part of an April Fool's joke for a magazine. In fact, one of the bars I included did (and still does) exist. But it was one I had not been able to review, because the master refuses publicity in order to maintain exclusivity. So I gave it a fictitious name, at least, and added it to the list. This was done so that if a reader knew of it already, they would recognize it by the description (which would lend credibility to the bogus bars on the list), but so that no first-timer would ever be able to track it down (thereby preserving its reputation).

CULTURE / Music

Mar 10, 2002

They're simply the bomb

When Ozomatli played on the closing night of Fuji Rock Festival 2000, they emptied out the Red Marquee. The hundreds of safety-pin punks, rag-head ragamuffins, permanent-press mods and glow-stick ravers had disappeared -- last seen following the band. Like a soccer team of drum-toting Pied Pipers, Ozomatli had led them, over a hill and (eventually) back again. It was electrifying. And magical -- especially in genre-conscious Japan.

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