Shimokitazawa Nightlife: Cool Japanese Bars and Hangouts

Shimokitazawa – a vintage, bohemian neighborhood only a few stops from central Tokyo – has plenty of cool bars, hangouts and nightlife options. Have a look inside one of our favorites: Mother’s Ruin.

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Video, filmed and produced by the very talented Angela An, check out her excellent Youtube channel “internationally ME” here: https://youtube.com/c/internationallyME

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Thumbnail Image by JahnmitJa used under a CC license.

Intro sequence by the most talented Peter Laugesen

Intro music by The Wildbunch, creative commons license : http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Wildbunch/

Creative commons images used in the intro:
* Gundam Robot Statue in Odaiba https://www.flickr.com/photos/picsoflife/8154554047
* Japanese Salaryman Asleep https://www.flickr.com/photos/istolethetv/
* Domestic Cat https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Alvesgaspar
* Saraninman https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:%E7%AB%B9%E4%B8%8B%E7%AB%A0%E5%A4%AA%E9%83%8E
* Wild Cat http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/34298
* Ginza Holiday Promenade https://www.flickr.com/photos/yoshikazut/
* Shibuya Crossing https://www.flickr.com/photos/31029865@N06/

– Last time we showed you guys around Shimokitazawa in the daytime, so this time, let’s see what kind of night life Shimokitazawa has to offer. Shimokitazawa is also very popular for the live houses here, so don’t forget to check those out. Alright, let’s check out this bar. The menus and the shops are usually in Japanese, however, you could just get by with some basic English, gestures, and pointing. The staff are quite friendly as well, and could give you a hand. Thank you. Alright, so my drink’s here, so cheers. Mmm, it’s good. It’s, I got the ka-chiss roo-tal-tee. So, it’s easy to drink, if you can’t drink hard alcohol, like me. Or if you’re filming today. It’s a good, light drink. It’s kinda like Ribena, like blackcurrant juice. And it’s really, it’s a really, really nice, relaxing. But you kinda, in the, kinda, atmosphere as well. If you come early, there isn’t many people here. So it’s not as crowded as weekends or late nights. So it’s good for a chill drink. So how long have you been living here in Shimokitazawa?

– I was born here. – Oh, right, right, right. – So I’ve pretty much been here all of my life apart from the few years when I spent in England. – Right, right, right. – But, yeah, like 20… – ‘Cause your father’s – English, yeah. – English, and then your mother’s

Japanese. – Yeah. We, as in Mother, and Mother’s Ruin, we are the oldest rock bar in Shimokitazawa. – Oh wow. – We’ve been going on for 40, I think it’ll be, next year, will be our 45th – Wow, congratulations. – running business here, Thank you. – Where do you recommend, like,

Around this area for night life? – Oh, so many bars. I can give you a long list. – Yeah? – [Haruna] Many bars are located on the south exit, but also, if you go kind of North exit, and past all the cafe and vintage clothing area. You get to a place called, Ichibangai, which kind of run, it kind of connects the cha-za-a-do-ri

In the end. – [Angela] Okay. Okay, okay. – [Haruna] But it’s a very, very small strip of bars and shops. Ichibangai is more self owned and smaller capacity. Another interesting place is called, Suzunari. Suzunari is located on Natazawa street. – [Angela] Okay, okay. – [Haruna] Suzunari used to be an old theater,

– [Angela] Oh, okay. – [Haruna] but they demolished the place, and they converted into, so they kind of, you had this wide area, and they split it up into many, many tiny bars. So in Suzunari I think there’s, like, five or six, and different bars just,

Right, you know, door-to-door, next to each other. – [Angela] Many of these bars are Japanese-style bars, and offer a variety of drinks and food. There are a lot of options in Shimokitazawa when it comes to night life, so check out some of the places mentioned in this video, and don’t forget to subscribe for more updates.