Tokyo / Shinjuku / District

Golden Gai

ゴールデン街 ごーるでんがい

Six alleys, two hundred bars, eight seats each — the writers' and film-makers' drinking quarter that outlived every redevelopment.

EssentialLate night · Local life · History · Photogenic

Two-storey wooden buildings from the early 1950s, shoulder to shoulder in six lanes behind Kabukicho, each ground floor a bar the width of a corridor with a theme chosen by its owner: 1960s film, punk, jazz, a particular novelist, a particular football club. Golden Gai was the postwar underworld's, then the writers', and now anyone's, but the rules hold — most bars charge a seat fee, some are members-only and say so on the door, photography inside is by permission, and the good ones are the ones where the owner is talking. Two bars, a couple of hours, a taxi home.

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A hand-drawn sketch for orientation — each place links to an exact map.
Tip
Look for a sign saying the seat charge in English and a price list; those bars want you.
Best time
9 pm to midnight, any night; closed for a week at New Year.
Allow
120 min
Station
Shinjuku-sanchome (Marunouchi / Fukutoshin / Shinjuku lines), exit E1, 5 minutes
Official site — hours, prices, closures
goldengai.jp · Map

Appears in

In this area: Shinjuku

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