Drinking in Japan

Obviously the life of a young expat earning a reasonable income does involve a fair amount of drinking in local bars and restaurants. The bars are very small, maybe smaller than some New Zealand living rooms so its very intimate and you tend to meet most people and talk to most that night.



In terms of prices, at the bar Beer is about 500 yen ($6 approx) , spirits 600-700 (7-9 $NZ approx). So the prices in bars are comparable or a little more expensive than a city at home. At supermarkets however its a different story, you can buy cheap spirits at supermarkets like 1500 yen bottles of jim beam ($20) that at home would cost maybe $30-40. This is due to less taxes on spirits I guess. Surprisingly beer is not that cheap at supermarkets. Beer here is taxed on malt content so the Japanese have cunningly delevoped a beer known as 2nd (generation) beer which is brewed from some sort of bean!!! Alcohol content and taste seems exactly the same to me.

I unwittingly drank a giant 1 Litre can of just such a drink last weekend, which seemed a really nice drop... We did wonder why it only cost 350 Yen (4 $NZ) for such a large volume, but now I`m totally converted to the idea of `artificial` beer!

In Bars and Restaurants the Japanese people are mostly eager to meet you, especially the ones that can speak decent English. though more often than not they are shy and claim they can`t really speak the language as they are scared of making a mistake. After a few drinks together though the locals tend to get over these inhibitions and you can meet some great people eager to show you the local attractions or help you learn some Japanese.



The bartenders here are almost without exception uncommonly friendly and you talk to them as much as anyone else. The bartender at our local `Gaijin`(foreigner) bar often calls us if it will be a good night at the bar. Obviously this is good for business but Matsumoto or `Master` as he is affectionately known to his English speaking clientele is definately sincere. He has even gone to the lengths of offering to drive us to out of town supermarkets to get Western food or supplies and gives us travel advise from the bar`s lonely planet edition. What more could you ask for!



Most of the entertainment offered in the bars here is pool or darts and there is almost no dancing here, very different from a Western country I think. Even the girls here seem content to sit around relax and have a few drinks, whereas in nz by the end of the night, even in the smallest space most would be up dancing around and enjoying the music! Perhaps its due to shyness, who knows.It does seem quite amazing to me though, that in this city of over 1 million there are no real dance clubs at all.