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Bars for solo guy

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Chuck Farley

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I am going to be strolling around kabukicho area for 1 night. I am by myself and just want to be able to drink a little, people watch and possibly play with some titties at a strip club or pink saloon... Are there bars that don't allow Americans in? Anything to look out for? Not really looking to hook up just want to have a good time. I speak VERY LITTLE Japanese. Even if its a club that may be fine I just don't want to deal with too much BS.
Staying a few miles away from kabukicho so I don't want to get so drunk I can't find my way back.
 
I don't know any strip clubs that are the conventional type from the US, but I'm sure some exist.

If you are looking for a bar just for drinks, etc, there's 3 Hubs on the east side of Shinjuku Station.

http://www.pub-hub.com/shop/yasukuni/images/map_b.gif

The one I usually go to is on Yasukuni Dori- it's not in the depths of Kabukicho, but it's close. I've gone in there solo a few times just to hang out. Always some cute girls in there, and plenty of them want to practice their English.
 
Perfect. Thank you. Seems like there is one on my way from my hotel to the entrance to kabukicho. I can't read anything but seems like the have "parties" wouldn't by chance be on Friday and or Saturday. Is it all you can drink and food?
Thanks a lot.
 
Don't go anywhere with the African guys on the street, you'll get drugged and roughed up, all your money gone and nice bill on your credit card; and the Japanese touts on the street are likely to rip you off too. There was a story recently on ISG about a guy in Kabukicho who got handed off between several guys, paying each and ended up with nothing.

If you happen to meet a guy called Charlie, you can trust him. He's pretty beat up and worse for wear but he's honest. Glasses fixed with tape, teeth missing and probably carry a box of sake.
 
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Chuck Farley said:
I can't read anything but seems like the have "parties" wouldn't by chance be on Friday and or Saturday. Is it all you can drink and food?
Click to expand...

The first image under "PARTY" is for women only groups, and the second one is for special parties reserved in advance, from a few people to enough to rent the entire pub for the party. So no, you'll have to pay for all the food and drink you order.

They do have a happy hour at some locations with all drinks but beer from a third to half off, though.
 
Chuck Farley said:
Do you have a link? Hard to search on my phone.
Click to expand...

The best thing is just to decide where you want to go and go there. Don't take advice from people on the street that you don't know.
 
Hub on Yasukuni-dori is a good place to interact and people watch. Most bars in Golden Gai are very friendly and welcome to tourists and the Japanese patrons will be very hospitable if you have some social skills. I cannot think of one American style strip bar, but TS Music Shinjuku is a unique experience and you can take your own alcohol I think. Stay away from touts and Africans. Charlie is a great guy. Buy him a One Cup of sake from the convenience store and he'll shed the attempts to get you into the places that pay him the highest commission and lead to whatever best suits your taste.
For those who have met Charlie, he finally got new glasses, but he had taped the souls of his shoes to the rest of the shoe. If you have never met Charlie, he mostly wonders the street running parallel to Yasukuni-dori on the back side of Kabukicho between the fuzoku shops and the Love Hotels (ending at seibu-Shinjuku station). He'd probably be the only white tout you see.
 
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I have read that the bars in Golden Gai can be VERY pricey. Both for a cover charge and for drinks.
I think I will check out Albatross G and just walk around the area.

Thank you for the advise guys. Should be a fun trip.
 
This probably sounds like a stupid question, but how easy in foreigner friendly bars is it to order drinks. What I mean by that is, if I want something other than a beer, lets say Rum and coke, will they understand that? Or should I learn the Japanese for a few select drinks before I go out. Also, what kind of beers do they do? Any that westerners would be familiar with.
 
It depends on the bar.

Most mixed drinks, they'll probably understand if you say something like "Rum and coke" slowly and clearly. If you go to the Hub they have a menu at the bar that you can point to as a last resort.

Beers are various. The Hub has a number of your standard pub beers like Guiness, etc, and I think their house beer is Asahi. You can walk into any bar that serves tap beer and ask for 'nama beeru', and that's asking for their house draft beer.
 
Thank you for the answer, appreciate the advice. 'nama beeru' will certainly be useful if all else fails.

Are nightclubs the same? Was thinking of hitting up the foreigner friendly nightclubs in Roppongi at some point. Are the bar staff there likely to understand basic drink requests too?
 
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