Drinking Japan. Chris Bunting
often have a red lantern outside called an akachōchin. Unfortu-nately, not all shops that have red lanterns are izakaya, so it is good to be able to recognize the Japanese characters.
Other pub-like establishments
There are a number of other Japanese words that are either used interchangeably with izakaya or are very close in meaning to it. The situation is similar to the overlapping meanings of ”pub,” “bar,” “inn” and “tavern” in English. Sometimes izakaya-like establishments will sign themselves as 酒場 (sakaba or “alcohol place”) or 飲み屋 (nomiya or “drinking shop”), which is sometimes written as 呑み屋). The words sakaba and nomiya seem to have slightly wider ranges of meaning than izakaya, encompassing bars without the food menu you would expect in an izakaya, but there is no reliable distinction.
The Kanayama Johnny shōchū bar in Hiroshima (page 95) allows customers to serve themselves from the hundreds of bottles lining the walls. Waitress Asaka Kōno, shown here, says dishonesty is rare.
There is another sub-set of Japanese pubs describing themselves as立ち飲み屋 (tachinomiya or “standing drinking shop”) or スタン丁 イングノ乂—(sutandingu bar or “standing bar”). These places, as their names suggest, serve drinks to standing customers. The English and Japanese versions of the name are applied fairly indiscriminately, although more modern-styled places, serving wines and posh sakes, are more likely to be sutandingu bars while traditional drinking stands tracing their roots back to the post-war years are more likely to be tachinomi.
Pubs パブ
When I first arrived in Japan, I used to walk around looking for “pubs” on the theory that I knew what they were. It is not as simple as that. In Japan, the word “pub” can refer to various types of drinking establishments, not all of which serve reasonably priced drinks. There are “English pubs” and “Irish pubs” offering exactly what you might expect, but there are also “sexy pubs” that sell something else. All sorts of legitimate izakaya, bars and “snacks” also use the word. It is usually obvious when you are dealing with a legitimate drinking establishment but the general advice is not to regard the word “pub” as a guarantee of something familiar.
The English used on Japanese bar signs does not always carry the same meaning it would back home. Clockwise from top left: an “emotional bar” in Takadanobaba, Tōkyō; a “snack” in Toshima, Tōkyō; a “sexy pub” in Shinjuku, Tōkyō; and a jazz bar in Setagaya, Tōkyō.
Bars バー
The word “bar” has as many meanings as “pub.” Many of the places featured in this guide call themselves “bars” but there are also hostess bars and snacks that go under the name. There is so much variation that any generalization is going to run into contradictions, but for me an archetypal Japanese “bar” tends to put much less emphasis on food than an izakaya does. The barman or woman is much more likely to be serving from behind a bar top, will probably be offering Western drinks of some description (although there are also sake and shōchū bars), and is likely to be charging a heftier entrance charge than your average izakaya.
“Snack” スナック
The “snack” is a peculiarly Japanese institution. It is typically a small bar run by a woman. Part of the attraction for customers can be the conversation with the mama-san, although, in many places, couples will go to a snack and treat it as their local bar. Originally, snacks emerged out of regulations that forbade hostess bars from opening late at night. Women running snacks could argue that they were doing bar work and not hostessing, which allowed later hours. It is a misunderstanding to see all snacks as sleazy operations. Most are not. However, you are usually paying in some way for the personal attention— either through some sort of entrance charge or a relatively expensive food dish that you are expected to accept. These charges are often higher than in a standard izakaya. A snack is never, as I mistakenly thought on arriving in Japan, a cheap place to go for a bite to eat.
Soba restaurants, oden stalls, etc.
For the Japanese, drinking and eating go together and there are many types of restaurants that are associated with alcohol. Two of the more classic choices are soba restaurants and oden stalls (see page 64). Soba (そば) shops, serving buckwheat noodle dishes, are traditional places for daytime tippling. A glass of sake, shōchū or beer with your noodles is quite the done thing. Drinking too much, though, is seriously uncool. Oden (おでん), an assortment of vegetables, fish cakes and eggs cooked in a light soy-flavored stew, is another time-honored drinking food and the best places to try it are the rickety outdoor stalls set up in some parks. They usually serve cheap sake, shōchū and beer. The modern preference is for drinking with various types of grilled meat. The drinking quarters are full of yakiniku (焼肉 or 焼き肉, grilled meat); horumonyaki (ホソレモン焼き, beef and pork offal); gyūtan (牛タン, grilled beef tongue), Mongolian barbecue (using lamb and mutton and often referred to as Jingisu Kan (ジン 干スカン)), as well as Korean barbecue restaurants.
The law
Drinking age
The minimum legal drinking age in Japan is 20.
Disorderly behavior
The Law to Prevent Drunk and Disorderly Conduct (1961) empowers the Japanese police to arrest people for disorderly speech or behavior in public places.
Drunk driving
Anybody who tells you that Japan is lax on drunk drivers is seriously ill-informed. It now has some of the strictest drunk driving laws in the world. You can be imprisoned or heavily fined not only for drunk driving yourself but for being in a car with a drunk driver, lending a car to someone who has been drinking or serving alcohol to a driver. Enforcement is highly effective: police routinely block roads and test everyone who comes by. You don’t have to be driving irregularly to get caught.
The legal limit is less than .03 blood alcohol content, which is significantly lower than in many countries; one small beer will get some people over that limit. Indeed, one Western executive was taken to court for driving the morning after drinking. The maximum sentence is five years in prison and a fine of 1,000,000 yen. Although the sentences will not be that tough for most drink drivers, it is worth remembering that Japanese law routinely enforces large compensation payments upon people who cause harm to others or damage to property on the road. If you are under the influence, you will almost certainly be judged to be at fault, and that could mean life-ruining debts.
Emergency service telephone numbers
110—Police
119—Ambulance
Kimiko Satō, owner of Juttoku, Shinjuku, Tōkyō (page 58), pours sake for customers.
Pouring for others
It is customary when drinking in a group in Japan to pour other people’s drinks, and it is polite to wait for others in the group to pour yours. This may sound overly formal to the uninitiated, but can be a great way for foreigners having difficulty with the language to interact and make friends. I have known this custom to be used to strike up conversations with people in adjoining groups too. If you want to be really polite, pour while holding the bottle in two hands and hold your glass in two hands when receiving. If possible, try to accept drinks offered by people in the group who have not poured for you and swiftly pick up the bottle and pour for them (in many cases, people are pouring because they want their glass refilled). None of these drinking customs should be taken as being set in stone. Plenty of people pour their own drinks in group situations. In general, it is not the done thing to drink directly from bottles, although there are young people’s hangouts where this is de rigueur. Where a glass is provided,