My recent attempt to drink a Japanese craft beer in every ward of Tokyo over the course of 2022 (#beerineveryku) left me at a bit of a loss when it came to Nakano. Despite being next to Shinjuku and therefore pretty central, Nakano has a bit of a dearth of craft beer places. There are…
Libushi Bashamichi is the relatively new brewpub and taproom for the Nagano based brewery AJB in central Yokohama. Although you can get AJB beer in quite a few places around the Kanto area, this new place gives you the opportunity to try plenty of taps of their beer in one place without having to go…
Danchi kitchen is a new place opened up in Nishi Urawa and is a community project with, I believe, some funding from the local government behind it. The place is a cafe, shared kitchen and brewery. For those who don’t know, danchi is the name for the blocks of public housing in Japan, normally dating…
Written by James 21 Brew Cave is bar restaurant and future brew pub that opened fairly recently in Hibarigaoka. An area that, to the best of my knowledge, has little or no craft beer options. The first thing you notice as you go in is a couple of large silver tanks for brewing beer. In…
Today a place that has just been opened by a regular drinker at Gremlin. Biruya Koizumi is a bit further west of Hatagaya though. It’s about a 10 min walk from Chofu station on the Keio line. Considering Chofu is a area with quite a lot of shops and restaurants, there is a dearth of…
Written by James Number 6 is a cafe bar in Ningyocho. The name comes from the fact that there are six taps of craft beer. They were all domestic when I went. Number 6 also has good coffee and Nihonshu, but I won’t write about these here. On my visit there was a Fresh Hop…
Written by James Niku to Mugi opened relatively recently in Hatagaya (about one minute from Gremlin) and it definitely has its own style that sets it apart from other craft beer bars. You take your shoes off on the way in and wear a pair of the slippers provided. The bar, actually I’d call it…
Written by James Williams Brewery / Williams Brooklyn Restaurant is in Kuki in Saitama and it started brewing this year (2022). It’s a few stations past Omiya which is a trek for me but I just fancied going. From the outside it looks like a house or a hotel. There is a sign saying “Lots…
It’s taken me a while but I’ve finally made it to the new Mikkeller bar, just over the other side of the Yamanote line from the Dogenzaka branch. Distance wise, it’s not at all far, but when you compare the two neighbourhoods it feels like it could be a lot further. Mikkeller Kiosk/Bar is on…
Let’s Beer Works is a place that has been on my ‘to visit’ list for a while but the limited opening hours have always foiled me. Well, until now! I managed to finally get there on my way to Urawa for a football away game. En-route my shoe self-destructed. This is of no interest to…