SHINJUKU NI-CHOME, SAN-CHOME
http://www.utopia-asia.com/tokybars.htm
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):
click for our interactive map of Shinjuku Ni-Chome
Base UTOPIA VISITED AUG 2015
Utopia Map, 3356-1907. Master: Toshi. A warm den for 25-35yo bears. Please have facial hair. Crew cuts and chubbiness are a plus. Muscled sportsmen optional.
DNA UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2012
1/F Musasino Bld, 2-13-14 Chinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3341-4445. Friendly café bar with shop right on the main drag. Opens earlier than most clubs, so it is one of a few places to start off an evening in Ni-Chome.
Dragon Men UTOPIAN VERIFIED AUG 2015, UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2013
1/F Stork Nagasaki, 2-11-4 Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3341-0606, email. Occupying a double-wide space, with huge doors that can roll open during summer. Contemporary design with a very clever chat nook fronted by a clear plexi-screen to invisibly dampen the music for conversation without reducing the cruise factor. Indoor and outdoor seating. Lattés, capuccinos and espressos on the terrace. Three-hour-long Happy Hour from 6-9pm nightly. Very affordable prices. Don't let the name fool you: "All sexualities are welcome," declares Satoshi, "including dykes." Open Sun-Thu 6pm-3am and Fri, Sat and nights preceeding holidays from 6pm-5am.
GB UTOPIA VISITED AUG 2015
B/F Shinjuku Plaza Bld, 2-12-13 Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3352-8972. Ever-popular video bar for foreigners and Japanese who like them. Super-packed on weekends and very smoky. Large, comfortable bar with excellent cruise vantage in every direction. Attracts professionals, artists, expats and the gaisen fringe, in their mid 20s-40s.
Kinsmen UTOPIA VISITED AUG 2015
2/F 2-18-5 Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3354-4949, email. This long-established gay bar is under new management that has maintained its elegant and cozy atmosphere catering to an upscale, trendy, gay and lesbian crowd. Owner, Nori, and manager, Ebi, make sure that everyone is comfortable and relaxed. Open Sun and week nights from 7pm-1am, Fri and Sat from 7pm-3am. Closed Mon.
Ku Su O UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2012
Utopia Map, 3354-5050. This large (by Japanese standards) second floor bar has mostly Japanese patrons, 20s-40s, but welcomes visitors. Very active in the Tokyo pride events and the Ni-Chome gay community.
Leo LOUNGE TOKYO UTOPIA VERIFIED AUG 2015
2/F Taraku Bld, 2-14-16 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Utopia Map, 5341-4380, email. International gay bar for bears and their friends, located in the hard of Shinjuku's gayborhood. Experience their glamorous, upscale environment, friendly staff and good music. They welcome customers from all over the world, not only bear types. Utopia Member Discount
Monsoon UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2012
Utopia Map. This small bar on 6/F is a funky hang-out for 20-something queers and their friends. Young visitors are welcome.
Palolo UTOPIA VERIFIED MAY 2012
2-11-10 Shinjyuku Ni-chome, Utopia Map, 3226-6369, email. Classic Japanese style gay bar (compulsory snack served with first drink) in the heart of Ni-chome's gay scene. Casual, come-as-you-are place where you can unwind after work or have some happy encounters with new friends. Please call them if you have any trouble locating the place.
Tac's **** UTOPIA VERIFIED AUG 2015, UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2012
2/F, 3-11-12 #202 Shinjuku San-Chome, Utopia Map, 3341-9404. In business for over 25 years. Gay art shows, friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The owner is intellectual and writes for gay publications on social issues that effect the community. This traditional bar attracts culture fans including those that love the arts and classical music. Open daily 8pm-2am.
Usagi (mixed)
From Dragon Men, walk in the direction away from Shinjuku Station through two intersections. Usagi should be on 5/F on your left. Open after 9pm. This smoke-free bar is spacious and clean. Warm lighting and homey interior design. The friendly welcomes non-Japanese visitors. Being located in Nichome, Usagi attracts a large gay crowd. The Japanese and English menu offers a wide range of alcoholic and regular drinks at reasonable prices.
OTHER AREAS
Aotaikoo UTOPIA VERIFIED AUG 2015
4F 7-11-16 Nishi-Shinjuku, 03-3363-2544, email. The name means "blue sky of Thailand" and the interior is designed as a moon in a lake. They promise to entertain you with Asian comfort, in a gentle and relaxed atmosphere. Nearby are many skysc****rs, famous hotels, big department stores, electric gadget shops and cruising spots.
Bar kabuto UTOPIA VERIFIED AUG 2015
4/F 7-44-1 TK Kamata Bld, Nishikamata Ota-ku, 5703-2110, email. From JR Kamata Station, take the west entrance and cross the circle area in front of the station to the alley between the cigarette shop and Katsuya tonkatsu restaurant. Keep going three blocks and you should see a yellow building on your left (see Utopia Map). Kabuto is located on 4/F there. Friendly neighborhood men-only gay bar. Owned by former airline cabin crew. Most customers speak or understand some English. Enjoy the neighborhood bar atmosphere with the English speaking master. Experience Japanese style service and hospitality. Call if you need help finding them. Utopia Member Discount
Iruken
3/F Jyu Go Bld, 4-18-4 Shimbashi, Iruken (on an obscure block behind the Shinbashi station), 03-3437-3227. The hosts are Kenji and Hiro. They speak a little English and make a great yakisoba. The area caters to the after work crowd.
Townhouse
6/F Ginza Bld, 1-11-5 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, 03-3289-8558. It's in an obscure building on the top floor (you take a lift to 5/F and walk up stairs to 6/F). Lively karaoke bar with quite a few tables and very friendly people. Plus, a cool outdoor patio area to take in the lights of the city. A sign says Members Only but if you are reading this, you are a member.
Karaoke
SHINJUKU NI-CHOME, SAN-CHOME
Fuji UTOPIA VISITED AUG 2015
B/F Saint Four Bld #B104 (see map), 2-12-16 Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3354-2707. Cozy bar for mature gaijin (foreigners) and gaisen (foreigner chasers). Gay and lesbian-friendly. Attracts many Filipino singers who live in To
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):
click for our interactive map of Shinjuku Ni-Chome
Base UTOPIA VISITED AUG 2015
Utopia Map, 3356-1907. Master: Toshi. A warm den for 25-35yo bears. Please have facial hair. Crew cuts and chubbiness are a plus. Muscled sportsmen optional.
DNA UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2012
1/F Musasino Bld, 2-13-14 Chinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3341-4445. Friendly café bar with shop right on the main drag. Opens earlier than most clubs, so it is one of a few places to start off an evening in Ni-Chome.
Dragon Men UTOPIAN VERIFIED AUG 2015, UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2013
1/F Stork Nagasaki, 2-11-4 Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3341-0606, email. Occupying a double-wide space, with huge doors that can roll open during summer. Contemporary design with a very clever chat nook fronted by a clear plexi-screen to invisibly dampen the music for conversation without reducing the cruise factor. Indoor and outdoor seating. Lattés, capuccinos and espressos on the terrace. Three-hour-long Happy Hour from 6-9pm nightly. Very affordable prices. Don't let the name fool you: "All sexualities are welcome," declares Satoshi, "including dykes." Open Sun-Thu 6pm-3am and Fri, Sat and nights preceeding holidays from 6pm-5am.
GB UTOPIA VISITED AUG 2015
B/F Shinjuku Plaza Bld, 2-12-13 Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3352-8972. Ever-popular video bar for foreigners and Japanese who like them. Super-packed on weekends and very smoky. Large, comfortable bar with excellent cruise vantage in every direction. Attracts professionals, artists, expats and the gaisen fringe, in their mid 20s-40s.
Kinsmen UTOPIA VISITED AUG 2015
2/F 2-18-5 Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3354-4949, email. This long-established gay bar is under new management that has maintained its elegant and cozy atmosphere catering to an upscale, trendy, gay and lesbian crowd. Owner, Nori, and manager, Ebi, make sure that everyone is comfortable and relaxed. Open Sun and week nights from 7pm-1am, Fri and Sat from 7pm-3am. Closed Mon.
Ku Su O UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2012
Utopia Map, 3354-5050. This large (by Japanese standards) second floor bar has mostly Japanese patrons, 20s-40s, but welcomes visitors. Very active in the Tokyo pride events and the Ni-Chome gay community.
Leo LOUNGE TOKYO UTOPIA VERIFIED AUG 2015
2/F Taraku Bld, 2-14-16 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Utopia Map, 5341-4380, email. International gay bar for bears and their friends, located in the hard of Shinjuku's gayborhood. Experience their glamorous, upscale environment, friendly staff and good music. They welcome customers from all over the world, not only bear types. Utopia Member Discount
Monsoon UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2012
Utopia Map. This small bar on 6/F is a funky hang-out for 20-something queers and their friends. Young visitors are welcome.
Palolo UTOPIA VERIFIED MAY 2012
2-11-10 Shinjyuku Ni-chome, Utopia Map, 3226-6369, email. Classic Japanese style gay bar (compulsory snack served with first drink) in the heart of Ni-chome's gay scene. Casual, come-as-you-are place where you can unwind after work or have some happy encounters with new friends. Please call them if you have any trouble locating the place.
Tac's **** UTOPIA VERIFIED AUG 2015, UTOPIA VISITED SEP 2012
2/F, 3-11-12 #202 Shinjuku San-Chome, Utopia Map, 3341-9404. In business for over 25 years. Gay art shows, friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The owner is intellectual and writes for gay publications on social issues that effect the community. This traditional bar attracts culture fans including those that love the arts and classical music. Open daily 8pm-2am.
Usagi (mixed)
From Dragon Men, walk in the direction away from Shinjuku Station through two intersections. Usagi should be on 5/F on your left. Open after 9pm. This smoke-free bar is spacious and clean. Warm lighting and homey interior design. The friendly welcomes non-Japanese visitors. Being located in Nichome, Usagi attracts a large gay crowd. The Japanese and English menu offers a wide range of alcoholic and regular drinks at reasonable prices.
OTHER AREAS
Aotaikoo UTOPIA VERIFIED AUG 2015
4F 7-11-16 Nishi-Shinjuku, 03-3363-2544, email. The name means "blue sky of Thailand" and the interior is designed as a moon in a lake. They promise to entertain you with Asian comfort, in a gentle and relaxed atmosphere. Nearby are many skysc****rs, famous hotels, big department stores, electric gadget shops and cruising spots.
Bar kabuto UTOPIA VERIFIED AUG 2015
4/F 7-44-1 TK Kamata Bld, Nishikamata Ota-ku, 5703-2110, email. From JR Kamata Station, take the west entrance and cross the circle area in front of the station to the alley between the cigarette shop and Katsuya tonkatsu restaurant. Keep going three blocks and you should see a yellow building on your left (see Utopia Map). Kabuto is located on 4/F there. Friendly neighborhood men-only gay bar. Owned by former airline cabin crew. Most customers speak or understand some English. Enjoy the neighborhood bar atmosphere with the English speaking master. Experience Japanese style service and hospitality. Call if you need help finding them. Utopia Member Discount
Iruken
3/F Jyu Go Bld, 4-18-4 Shimbashi, Iruken (on an obscure block behind the Shinbashi station), 03-3437-3227. The hosts are Kenji and Hiro. They speak a little English and make a great yakisoba. The area caters to the after work crowd.
Townhouse
6/F Ginza Bld, 1-11-5 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, 03-3289-8558. It's in an obscure building on the top floor (you take a lift to 5/F and walk up stairs to 6/F). Lively karaoke bar with quite a few tables and very friendly people. Plus, a cool outdoor patio area to take in the lights of the city. A sign says Members Only but if you are reading this, you are a member.
Karaoke
SHINJUKU NI-CHOME, SAN-CHOME
Fuji UTOPIA VISITED AUG 2015
B/F Saint Four Bld #B104 (see map), 2-12-16 Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Utopia Map, 3354-2707. Cozy bar for mature gaijin (foreigners) and gaisen (foreigner chasers). Gay and lesbian-friendly. Attracts many Filipino singers who live in To
10年前
