Bar Orchard Ginza, Tokyo, Japan



Aside from a handful of well-publicised hotel bars, the city’s dense maze of must-visit drinking dens can be quite intimidating to navigate, especially for inevitably overwhelmed and overstimulated Westerners. One of the top cocktail bars in the upscale Ginza neighborhood of Tokyo, Bar High Five is a tiny space on the 4th floor of an office building where Hidetsugu Ueno crafts exquisite cocktails. There's no menu, Hidetsugu simply asks for your tastes and will make you something accordingly. Packed to the brim with bars, clubs, and all-night revelers, Roppongi is without a doubt one of Tokyo’s most famous nightlife districts.

Some bars in Thailand label themselves as hostess bars; these are loosely related to the East Asian practice, although they are basically a class of the local go-go bars that do not feature dancing. Hostess bars are also found in other east Asian countries, and in Hawaii, Guam, California, and Vancouver, Canada.

Even if you are not a heavy drinker, their innovative presentation would warrant a visit. In addition to its normal menu, the bar serves a few non-alcoholic drinks. Late in our stay, we ordered a Cinderella, a short cocktail made with orange, pineapple, and lemon. Sipping our cocktails, we got the impression that Lupin is as much a museum as it is a bar, offering modern Tokyo a rare glimpse and taste of its Shōwa past. While the same drinks are available in any contemporary bar, Lupin still uses the same ingredients it did back in the day. And while some visitors may grumble about their cocktails, it's probably because Lupin serves them the old-fashioned way, giving you the chance to appreciate the context of history. Shunning the pretension that characterises a lot of Ginza bars, Bar Musashi is a welcoming, ever-friendly addition to the area’s nightlife landscape.

Hyatt Centric Ginza Tokyo offers a unique local bar and restaurant experience. Featuring a relaxed environment for handcrafted cocktails and a contemporary menu with locally sourced ingredients, the restaurant and bar serve local favorites with a twist for those food and drink-centric travelers. Start your days of exploration here with a daily buffet and delectable locally inspired creations, or end it with a drink or two by the bar. From rock-and-roll dives and swish cocktail emporiums to 500-bottle strong whisky libraries stashed away in nondescript office buildings, Tokyo’s bar scene has long set the global nightlife standard.

Hostesses often drink with customers each night, and alcohol problems are fairly common. These problems are derived from mass consumption of alcohol by which many consequences may arise. Most bars use a commission system by which hostesses receive a percentage of sales. For example, a patron purchases a $20 drink for the hostess, these are usually non-alcoholic concoctions like orange juice and ginger ale, and the patron has purchased the hostess's attention for the subsequent 30–45 minutes. The hostess then splits the proceeds of the sale with the bar 50/50. The light or no alcohol content of the drinks maximizes profits and ensures that the hostess does not become intoxicated after only a short time at work. They employ primarily female staff and cater to men seeking 銀座 drinks and attentive conversation.

Tender will feel hauntingly familiar to anyone who managed to get a drink at the bar in the Grill Room of the Four Seasons restaurant before it closed. After taking an elevator up to the fifth floor of an anonymous building in Ginza, you'll find yourself in a pointedly mid-century-style room, which is well-lit, with lots of soft oranges and blues in the decor. Staffed by bartenders in starched white coats, Tender is a perfect snapshot of an earlier era of fancy cocktails. It focuses on classics, sours in particular, with every detail tightly coordinated — and bartender-owner Kazuo Ueda's legendary "hard shake" technique is hypnotic to witness in person. If you are looking for some creative flair in your cocktails, Bar Orchard Ginza is the place to visit.

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