are there still places that have service charges? I havent had one of those in prolly 6,7,8 years as far as I can remember...guess that is still going on in the inaka, MM?

i want in too

I don't want you in too.

I drink good beer when I want to cb. It is jsut that I cant give a crap really. I buy highlands in the 20 pack 500ml bottles. Cb buy somewhere that you will make money. Kansai wont make you money.

I like the beer gardens near yasaka shrine cb. That said nithing beats a beer with a view and my view beats the kyoto tower!

お前はブー！！

FT, yeah, you got a great view, that is for sure, but many of us dont have that luxury, and have to deal with it the way we can.

Beers in Kansai sometime!!

Yeah mate, I know what you mean. Finding the nomihodai places are definitely the way to go, BUT also try and find standing bars. Just found a new one on Fujisawa, 350 yen for a mug of Sapporo, quality!!
What we often do round here is get convini beers and place or arses down somewhere in the sun with a nice view of sexy ladies walking past, whether thats the park, the beach, or even the train station!!

By service charge i mean a charge for that stick of celery or small portion of slop they give you with your first beer. In Nagano, i haven't found one place that doesnt charge for that. None of them tell you that it costs money but the usual price is Y350. Its a rip off in my opinion.

Matt

Yep I agree. I buy my brews from the bottle shop. The one impact i have had in my town is that the bottle shop now stocks two rows of Corona in the chiller. When i came i had to buy 5 cold ones and 7 warm ones. Now i can get the full dozen cold. Still pisses me off that my lime costs $1 a pop though.

The last thing that i find weird about Japanese bars is the atmosphere. At a lot of places there isnt really any bar. A lot of bars are more like resturants in atmosphere. Some are even worse and really only have private rooms. Why on earth does anyone go out, only to end up squating in a room with the same rabble you came with?

There is tons of stuff that is great about Japan. However no-one can convince me that their alcholol or bars are any good. The Japanese are only one step above mormons when it comes to beer. They have no idea.

Oh and as some people pass through Nagano city in the winter here's another recommendation for a place to get wasted at. Its called the Washington/Smile hotel. Its near Monzen plaza (a shopping mall) about 10 minutes walk from Nagano station. It does tabehodai/nomihodai for Y3,300 (girls a little less). Its sort of not limited in time. You can start anytime after 6 or 6:30 and it goes until closing time, maybe midnight. Its a good solid 5 hours of drinking time. It has an open bar, you just serve yourself so there's no waiting on the guy to bring a beer over.

Matt

Mattie,

Sounds like you are more into younger aged binge drinking establishments!

I really like Japanese bars. A few mates have em and they are a good place to sit down, catch up with mates and hammer through that bottle keep. I've made some life long friends from some of these places.

Go find a good bar, frequent it and you'll get looked after.

When I lived in the city, I always went to clubs not bars. Japan has some really good ones with far more sexy ladies than you get outside the conveni. Compared to skiing, 2000 or 3000 to get in on a good night is small change.

As for beer, try that new Muroka unfiltered one. Its well good.

>As for beer, try that new Muroka unfiltered one. Its well good.

The Muroka (Kirin) is fantastic!! I like that one too Wiggs

havent seen those in a while either..Maybe cuz I drink at the gaijin bars cuz beer selection is better..??

Tried that one the other night. Nice.
Outside with the fireflies and frogs.

cool

By 'Bottle Keep' do you mean the type of bar that you can only buy a spirits by the bottle. Then, when your finished you can keep your bottle behind the bar for the next time you come in? If so, although i dont get into this type of shenanigans, i can understand it. Sort of reminds me of the RSA's back home. I love these places. $3 a pint any day of the week. $6 for a jug. They're good stuff.

Matt

Matt

Bottle keep means that you buy a bottle and can keep it there.
I don't know any bars that are exclusively bottle keep bars. Usually the regulars will do it as it's usually a more cost effective way of drinking.
I usually bought a bottle each time I went unless it was a big 1.8l!

Indo

Indo

Indo