Tokyo Gay Bars, Cabaret, Clubs, Discos, Karaoke and Nightlife Information by Utopia Asia 大同

TOKYO -- area code +81-3

A night out in Tokyo has deflated down to earth from the champagne stratosphere of a few decades past. Also, there is no tipping or added taxes on bar bills which means Tokyo is an astonishing value for travelers!

The following venues are friendly towards visitors, although the smaller bars will prefer that you match the "type" they specialize in (many bars have limited seating and so try to attract the crowd they specialize in). There are several sorts of systems in play these days. Traditional bars include a tasty snack, sometimes cooked on the spot, along with the first drink and so prices are a bit higher to start off. Although bar-hoppers may opt to avoid traditional bars, these venues provide the extra service of social lubrication and really should be enjoyed, at least once, by visitors. Traditional places cater to leisurely conversations with the Masta (Master), and his bar staff who will politely quiz you and then introduce you to other customers they feel are a good match for a chat. This can take some time, so relax and have fun. The best traditional bars reflect the sparkling personalities of owners who are highly skilled in entertaining their customers. Some bars include a flat "table charge" that usually comes with an unthrilling dish of standard bar munchies. Many clubs have now switched to the simpler "shot" system of paying per drink purchased, although cover charges may go into effect on holidays and for special events. Pay as you go at these type of bars. Traditional bars may run tabs until you ask for the bill.

Monthly circuit parties attract large crowds. Flyers for upcoming events along with maps to the location can be found at gay establishments.

Most bars open a couple hours after people have gotten off work (about 8pm), although there are some early birds listed below.

SHIBUYA

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SHINJUKU NI-CHOME, SAN-CHOME
The majority of foreigner-friendly bars are shuffled into the hundreds of nightclubs packed into Shinjuku Ni-Chome, a tiny sub-district between BYGS Building (at the Shinjuku Sanchome Subway Station Exit C8) and Shinjuku Gyoemmae Subway Station a few blocks further east. While just a gaudy speck on the hemline of Tokyo's neon kimono, Ni-Chome is the main hub of Tokyo's gay scene. A carnival of shadows from dusk till dawn, here you will find 24-hour love motels, fetish mix boxes (no frills sex spaces), noodle dens and gay pride boutiques -- all catering to the parade of intoxicated salarymen, transgender hostesses, gangster pimps, Sumo wrestlers, public masturbators and sexual samurai of every clan. By day, its Buddhist graveyards are haunted by stumbling zombies of last night's overindulgences and serenaded by the melancholy caws of giant black crows which nest in the ancient pines of nearby Gyoen-mae Park. Yukio Mishima's favorite dive, The New Sazae, is still doing business here, as is a century-old, two-story wooden brothel.
Backlit signs scramble from the street to the sky, like chapter headings of Ni-Chome's tawdry autobiography: Shifty Air, Transistor Glamour, Bar Yes/No, Hotel Nuts, Potato Ex Club, Baby Satan, Sex Blond, G. Shower, Morning Tissue, Velvet Overhigh'm, Glans Freak, and (simply) Dick.
The easiest way to get to the gay area is to take the underground walkway from Shinjuku Station's East Exit (down one floor after the train exit ticket machines) or the Shinjuku Sanchome Subway Station (Marunouichi Line) to Exit C5, C7, or C8 (see map):