The Best Bars in Tokyo Right Now

Hidetsugu Ueno's seven-seat bar is widely considered one of the world's finest cocktail bars and a required pilgrimage for serious drinkers. The room itself is minimalist — just the bar and stools — which means every detail of the drink becomes the focus. Ueno's technique and knowledge of spirits is unmatched. Reservation essential, book months ahead.

Order: The Daiquiri — let Ueno show you what proper balance means.

Hisashi Kishi has been pouring at Star Bar for decades, and his mastery of Japanese and Scottish single malts is exceptional. The bar operates with formal white-glove service, and the atmosphere is one of quiet reverence. Kishi's precision with cocktails is extraordinary — every drink is made with the same attention to temperature, dilution, and technique you'd find in Tokyo's finest kaiseki restaurants.

Order: A single malt neat — experience Kishi's knowledge firsthand.

Hiroyasu Kayama grows his own herbs, creating a farm-to-glass cocktail programme that exists nowhere else in the world. The room seats roughly eight people in total, and the entire experience is orchestrated with obsessive attention. Kayama's drinks are built around the plants he grows — chrysanthemums, berries, herbs — and each cocktail is profoundly seasonal.

Order: Whatever Kayama recommends — trust his seasonal sensibility.

The SG Club represents Tokyo's most internationally acclaimed cocktail bar of the past decade, drawing on American cocktail traditions and executing with Japanese precision. The team knows spirits deeply, the drinks are creative without sacrificing balance, and the atmosphere balances formality with approachability. This is where Tokyo's younger bartenders study the craft.

Order: The Vintage Cocktail — see how they interpret a classic.

Bar Trench occupies a narrow room in Ebisu with one of Tokyo's finest absinthe programmes. The bar runs deep on French spirits, runs an encyclopedic absinth collection, and the bartenders understand the heritage and ritual around absinthe. The technique here rivals Europe's best absinthe establishments, approached with Japanese dedication to precision.

Order: A proper absinthe preparation — watch the ritual unfold.

Craft Beer Market operates as the democratic counterpoint to Tokyo's elevated fine dining bars — forty taps of Japanese craft beer at reasonable prices, staffed by knowledgeable people who can guide you through the selection. The room is lively without being loud, and the crowd includes serious beer enthusiasts and casual drinkers equally. This is Tokyo's most accessible quality drinking destination. If sport is on your agenda, Tokyo also has a strong sports bar scene concentrated in Roppongi and Shibuya, where Premier League and Champions League coverage runs until the early hours.

Order: A flight of three Japanese IPAs — see the style evolve.

Kouichi Goto's seasonal fruit cocktail programme is completely singular — drinks built around yuzu, ume, loquat, and other Japanese fruits, changing entirely with the seasons. Goto sources directly from producers, and each drink reflects the specific characteristics of that season's fruit. The level of engagement with seasonal Japanese produce is unmatched anywhere in the world.

Order: Whatever fruit Goto is featuring this season — the drink will surprise you.

Zoetrope holds 300+ Japanese whiskies in a room that seats twelve, run by one of the country's foremost whisky authorities. The bar operates as a sanctuary for whisky appreciation, with the owner guiding guests through the nuances of Japanese distilleries. This is where Tokyo's whisky enthusiasts come to study and appreciate.

Order: Ask the owner to choose — he knows every bottle in the room.

Fuglen operates as a Norwegian coffee roastery by day and a cocktail bar by evening, creating a completely different experience depending on when you visit. The transition is seamless — the same coffee obsession that drives the daytime operation extends to the cocktails at night. This is the perfect neighbourhood crossover, and the Tomigaya location attracts a genuinely mixed crowd.

Order: Come at 3pm for coffee, return at 8pm for cocktails.

Gen Yamamoto operates as an eight-seat omakase cocktail counter where the bartender builds a four-course tasting menu of drinks specifically for you. Each cocktail is built in real time, often incorporating unexpected ingredients and techniques. This is arguably the most singular bar experience in Japan — a complete surrender to the bartender's creativity and skill.

Order: The omakase experience — don't request anything specific.