Best Bars in Ginza, Tokyo
Cocktail temples, hotel bars, sake counters — the most refined bar neighbourhood in the world.
Ginza is the most refined bar district on the planet. Cocktail prices are real, dress codes are enforced, and the precision of every pour is calibrated to the millimetre. This is the neighbourhood that taught the rest of the world what 'a serious bar' means.
Eight Ginza picks for a properly dressed evening.
The best bars in Ginza
Bar Kage
Tatsuro Yamazaki's Ginza counter bar. 10 seats, no menu, full omakase cocktail flight. Reservations 30 days ahead.
Lobby Bar at Mandarin Oriental
38th floor hotel bar with Tokyo skyline view. Polished cocktails, deep whisky list, dressed-up Ginza evening.
Tender Bar
Kazuo Uyeda's bar (inventor of the hard shake). 12 seats, $30 cocktails, the most influential bar in Japanese cocktail history.
Aragawa
Ginza counter bar specialising in pre-Prohibition recipes. Bartender Hideki Yokoyama, 8 seats, full cocktail history class.
Yui
Ginza sake omakase counter. 8 seats, paired sakes with seasonal kaiseki, the most refined sake experience in Tokyo.
Old Imperial Bar
Imperial Hotel bar with Frank Lloyd Wright original interior. The Mount Fuji cocktail was invented here in 1924.
Bar Trench (Ebisu)
Ebisu (just south of Ginza) basement cocktail bar. World's 50 Best regular, deep amaro list, apothecary aesthetic.
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