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Exploring Golden Gai, where Shinjuku Nightlife Reveals Another Tokyo

Update-Date: Aug 12, 2025

Author: Sydney Seekford

Exploring Golden Gai, where Shinjuku Nightlife Reveals Another Tokyo

This tour experience dives into the heart of the Kabukicho nightlife district to uncover the many faces of Tokyo. These incongruous elements blend together to create Japan's deep and complex culture. Between Hokkaido-Tokyo fusion cuisine and historical bars along Golden Gai, this tour brings guests to experience the polished, the patinaed, and the hidden sides of Japanese culture in one night.

>>Golden Gai Secrets: A Curated Shinjuku Bar Hopping Tour
Participation fee: 17,000 JPY (tax included)

Sydney Seekford

Gourmet Creator

American living in Japan since 2022. Food writer and gourmet content creator for Japan’s most well known food media. Founder of menu translation and language support service MENUWIZ. Work history includes copywriting for booking platforms, video and media production and appearances, and consulting in F&B for household brands. Passionate about regional revitalization and slow tourism with a focus on local food culture.

Shinjuku, a Complex City

Shinjuku is the busiest station in the world, with an estimated 3 million people traveling through its halls on a given day. Its surrounding area is a hub where the many features of this country's complex culture collide. On the one hand, globally recognized brands shine from sparkling skyscrapers. On the other, seedy streets host hole-in-the-wall bars and some of the only districts in Tokyo with less than glowing reputations. Even so, this is Japan, and even the most suspicious streets are fortunately still quite safe. With our trusty guide, we dove into Shinjuku’s thrilling underbelly for a look at Tokyo most tours miss.

Shinjuku is the perfect place to experience sides of Japan that aren't quite so widely published. After the suit-clad salarymen turn off for the day, Shinjuku's Kabukicho district lights up. Here, youth and counter culture abound. Bars of every genre, cabaret and host clubs, and of course restaurants, span city blocks under the watchful eye of Godzilla atop the Gracery Hotel.

Kabukicho's Ni-chome constitutes the epicenter of Tokyo's LGBT+ lifestyle, with some community institutions having lasted for decades. Nearby, Golden Gai has become a historical piece of Tokyo with its ~300 tightly packed bars. On this tour, we experienced first hand the many ways Japan surprises even experienced tourists. Beginning with dinner, we came to see how the many facets of Japan mesh in this amazing city.

Bear-covered Combinations of Hokkaido and Tokyo

The evening starts at Kibori, a Hokkaido-themed restaurant serving monjayaki, casual teppanyaki, and regional specialties. The meal is impressive, and a fantastic value, including drinks and appetizers, like teppan-warmed ajillo-style shrimp and mushrooms and a grilled pork or squid dish. As our main entree, we get a choice of okonomiyaki or monjayaki. All of them are chopped and mixed on the teppan grill on top of our table, but the contents differ a little. With a helpful primer on Japanese food from our guide, Sasa-san, we get a rundown on each – which we’re thankful for, since the nuances aren’t entirely obvious just looking at the menu.

Okonomiyaki takes the form of savory pancake batter with the aforementioned cabbage and pork, seafood, etc. Both of these aren’t hard to find, but the most unique option was monjayaki, a Tokyo specialty. Monjayaki is made of the same toppings mixed with a loose slurry instead of thick batter and minced on the teppan.

Under the expert technique of this restaurant's head chef, our chosen monjayaki -- which features domestic pork, crushed noodle crackers, and stiff threads of dried squid -- turns into a soft-chewy-crispy mound that tastes much better than it looks. Monjayaki is notorious for its unsightly appearance. However, we're taught a trick that turns the sticky mash into a crispy-rice-esque bite of caramelized veggies and meat. By mashing the thin edges into the teppan before scraping them up, we get a delicious final bite. Having this level of personal treatment is a special feature of joining the tour, one we can’t help but appreciate!

While he cooks, the chef explains the story behind Kibori and its amazing kuma collection. Kibori no kuma (kibori bear) is the name of these statues. They're a traditional souvenir from Hokkaido that trace back to the region's local kogei crafts. Through the regional fusion cuisine and unique decor, Kibori tells a story of Japan's domestic travel and local specialties. But, ordinary guests don’t always hear the amazing story of Kibori’s bears (and we won’t spoil the whole thing here!). It’s one of a few special perks the Kibori staff offer diners who join the tour, reserved for visitors they know will appreciate it.

Stepping into Kibori looks like a cross between a log cabin and a teppanyaki steakhouse. Hundreds of carved, gold-painted bears sit in individual boxes on floor-to-ceiling shelves. At the entrance, a man-sized bear invites diners to take a commemorative picture, complete with festive haori.

Kibori, and most of the other restaurants in its building, is run by the Brand Bank Company, a restaurant group which operates about 200 stores around the country. These restaurants represent a clash of cultures, especially between regions and unexpected cuisine. Kibori embraces the combination of Tokyo's gritty, backstreet monjayaki culture and Hokkaido's bountiful natural landscapes and agriculture with a menu that brings together the best of both.

The Rock Bar

After dinner we moved to Golden Gai for the rest of the tour. Our two bars have a lot in common. Both closely related to entertainment and the stage, our first stop is led by barman Naruse-san, a singer and musician with a passion for guitars. He sometimes even treats guests to solo performances. His bar, Heavy Gauge, is a laid back space themed around music and bands. It’s decked wall to wall in music memories from the 70s to the early 2000s.

Paraphernalia, including real, vintage guitars, are everywhere. The wall behind the counter seems to have just as many albums squeezed onto its shelves as bottles – probably more. On the ceiling, posters from performances past. Unlike Kurakura, our next stop, where the master goes out on the town to show off his artistry, Heavy Gauge brings people in.

Heavy Gauge, in addition to being a bar, also serves as a little concert venue for hobby musicians and up and coming artists. Between local announcements for live shows, posters for Bob Dylan peek through. In the background, CDs and records play songs by beloved Japanese artists. Any fan of 80s and 90s Japanese music will love the wide selection Naruse-san offers – and he welcomes requests. Of course, Naruse-san won’t mind if you ask for Oasis or Earth Wind and Fire, but this is a once in a lifetime chance to hear Japan’s hits from the guys who helped get them to platinum.

Music lovers who are due for a primer on Japanese rock will enjoy the tunes of great artists like Kiyoshiro Imawano, who became well known for his anti-nuclear rhetoric, or Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, whose instant classics Kanpai and Natsu Matsuri are the kind of rock ballad anyone can get into with the right amount of drinks. Good thing too, since this bar offers some creative ones!

The Thespian’s Bar

Next, we leave Heavy Gauge and creep up to the second floor bar, Kura Kura. Kura Kura is run by a bartender with experience and personality in equal measure. He's well acquainted with the stage and screen stars of old, who frequent the establishment. You can even see who the regulars are based on the bottle-keep record in crinkly paper pasted to the wall. Even in this day and age, it’s only about $30 to buy into the bottle-keep program and put your name next to incredible actors and poets.

Compared to the buzzy bars on the ground floor, Kurakura is laid back and intimate. It’s not the kind of place visitors would normally find on their own, so we owe it all to Sasa-san for the introduction. Kurakura isn’t just a dive either, it’s frequented by famous kabuki and stage actors. A bust of famous comedian Hachiro Tako sits at the end of the bar, and before we were through the threshold, an acting legend popped in to say hello. Despite its quiet atmosphere, this is truly an institution.

Tobayama-san, who prefers to go by Toba, says his bar has been here for 50 years, and has barely changed. The only new thing in the room are posters from his most recent performances. He serves simple drinks like beer and whiskey, so we order a round of oolong highballs. While we sip, Toba-san puts on a little performance for us, a hitori shibai. It's just a sample of the kind of performance he gave in front of ten thousand people last night, and we’re lucky we get to experience such an intimate scene as part of the tour. Toba-san is a born performer and passionate about his art.

The bar’s specialty is udon with stewed beef tendon, a rustic dish that pairs well with a strong drink. Regulars come, buy a bottle, and drink more or less for free until it's time to reup. Even with all the great features, Toba-san says foreigners occasionally come here, but the table charge and difficulty of parsing the food-drinking culture can be a barrier. Sasa-san has been guiding us and translating along the way, since Toba-san’s amazing story only comes out in Japanese. We immediately realize what he means; the experience wouldn’t be nearly as moving without her help.

We'd never expect this long-standing bartender to be a celebrated stage actor, nor would we expect golden gai to be home to a bar owned by an actor with such a legacy. Toba-san speaks a little English, but we can't imagine coming into this bar and missing his fascinating story over a language barrier, so being able to come as part of a tour and hear it all feels particularly special.

Conclusion

It seems the city of Shinjuku is comfortable with its double life. As it turns out, Kabukicho is more than meets the eye. Behind the sparkly neon and host-clubs, there’s intimate spaces where celebrities and regular people can share room at the bar and restaurants established with meaning share the homey cuisines of regional Japan at modern tables. Thanks to this great tour, we were able to experience it all without getting lost, and make plenty of new friends and memories along the way.

>>Golden Gai Secrets: A Curated Shinjuku Bar Hopping Tour
Participation fee: 17,000 JPY (tax included)

• Bar hopping experience in Shinjuku with a local guide
• Monjayaki / okonomiyaki meal and 3 drinks included
• Visit 2 of the most authentic bars in Golden Gai
• Visit spots you wouldn't be able to find on your own
• Enjoy peace of mind with a local guide

〈Itinerary〉
1. Meet at Shinjuku Station East Exit.
The Shinjuku East Exit area is the centre of Japan's nightlife. We will head towards Kabuki-cho and pass by some key spots of East Shinjuku.
2. Walk to the monja/okonomiyaki restaurant (15 minutes)
3. Dinner at the first izakaya (60 minutes)
Enjoy making and eating either a monjayaki or okonomiyaki. Fill up your stomach with a local dinner consisting of three dishes and a drink and experience an authentic Japanese Izakaya vibe.
4. Walk to Golden Gai (15 minutes)
5. Visit the first bar in Golden Gai (45 minutes)
The bar owner is a famous figure who runs Golden Gai and also an active guitarist; the interior of the bar is designed to appeal to music lovers. Enjoy a drink and a side dish.
6. Visit the second bar in Golden Gai (45 minutes)
The owner of this bar is another famous figure who runs Golden Gai and also an actor. Enjoy a drink and a side dish at this bar where many actors in Japan have passed by.

〈Inclusions〉
Three drinks and five dishes, english speaking guide
Hotel travel, transportation, tips

〈exclusions〉
Three drinks and five dishes, english speaking guide
Hotel travel, transportation, tips

Disclaimer: All information is accurate at time of publication.

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