Japan in Oct Help!

Im in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Japan with my wife. We’re hoping to leave the Chicago area around the 14th of oct and be over for about 2 weeks. She has friends who are out there at the same time as we’re going to be so we’ll be spending time with them jumping around from place to place but I was hoping to get some recommendations on beer-y things to check out. Im probably way ahead of myself anyways but we were looking at getting plane tickets in the coming month or 2 and then booking hotels after that so between the great resources here and a couple other travel books I have a lot of reading to do.
We’re looking at spending maybe 4-5 days in Tokyo, 3-4 in Kyoto and a couple in Hiroshima for sure. If time allows either an extra day at one of the mentioned or something I have no idea about. Already planning on doing the train from one to the other .... im crazy but not crazy enough to try and drive across that country.

I guess I should note that the friends we’re meeting up with are beer people too so theres no real conflict of interests .....they’re from Portland.

I was there last June of 2016 for 2 weeks. I stayed with some Japanese friends in Chigasaki (just south of Tokyo) and had a similar plan as yours, 4 days Tokyo, 4 days Kyoto/Nara, and 5 days scattered about around other places like Kamakura, Chigasaki, Hakone, Yokohama, and Izu. I didn’t get a chance to do many beer related things but I would highly recommend the following places: (And no, they aren’t beer, but sake places).

This place I did sake flights, very cheap prices too. You get something like 3 4oz pours for $5. Great way to try a lot of sakes and also a few beers. They had like half a dozen bottles and 2-3 taps. Super nice guys working there. A bit challenging to find the place if you aren’t paying attention but worth it. A limited food menu too.

https://www.ratebeer.com/p/shinshu-osake-mura-nagano-sake-village-tokyo/11760/

Again, a sake place. Great prices, a very nice variety. Similar to the above place I mentioned.

https://www.ratebeer.com/p/meishu-center-japan-sake-pr-center-tokyo/8626/

Other than that, for beer I really didn’t get a change to do much else beer wise. I had planned too, but I was too busy enjoying everything else on our trip. So when we went to AEON grocery stores/markets, I would often just pick up some singles there to take back to my friends house that way I wasn’t wasting time sitting in a brewery or bar when I could be out enjoying Japan.

And if you make a day trip down to Kamakura, I do think this place is really worth checking out, although it’s not the most convenient location. Not only for the beer, but for the french fries. Yes, I am actually recommending you checking out a place for the fries in Japan and when I travel I always prefer to stick to local cuisine. This was an exception.

https://www.ratebeer.com/p/beach-muffin-michi-kusa-tap-room-kanagawa-prefecture/46661/


KyotoLefty, TimE, KansaiBeerLvrs, and Shoulderbroken will be able to give you the best advice on here. Enjoy your trip! I’d also be happy to share non-beer related things we did while there if you care. We packed in about a month worth of activities in a little over 2 weeks, my wife is still complaining her feet are tired from that trip haha.

Other than that, for beer I really didn’t get a change to do much else beer wise. I had planned too, but I was too busy enjoying everything else on our trip. So when we went to AEON grocery stores/markets, I would often just pick up some singles there to take back to my friends house that way I wasn’t wasting time sitting in a brewery or bar when I could be out enjoying Japan.


Thats kind of what I was expecting to be caught up in doing also. I’ve wanted to visit Japan as long as I can remember.
Im not to familiar with sake at all though, I think one of the only times I had it was something fairly good shared at a ratebeer gathering here in Grand Rapids years ago.
And yeah feel free to b/m me the rest of your details if you dont want to throw them all on here (it doesn’t matter to me either way) I’d love to hear it.

Originally posted by lampeno420
And yeah feel free to b/m me the rest of your details if you dont want to throw them all on here (it doesn’t matter to me either way) I’d love to hear it.

I lived in Japan for some time, on and off about 18 years. So I can offer some advice.

First I would not spend quite so much time in Tokyo, its just a big ugly city in my opinion. But it will probably offer your best beer opportunities if you know where to look, ask TimE and the Japan crew.

Kamakura is worth a day visit to see a number of shrines and temples that are all in walking distance of each other.Highlight is the Diabutsu at Kotokuin

Kyoto is nice, but very spread out, lots of temples to visit. A trip to Japan is just not complete without a visit here.

On your way from Kyoto to Hiroshima, I’d recommend a stop at Himeji to see the old castle. Its one of the last large original Japanese castles still standing from the feudal period. You will see nothing else like it. The Shinkansen stops there too.

I can’t offer much advice beer wise as craft beer was not yet invented when I was last there.

Where ever you are in Japan look for street food, like Yakitori, its delicious and cheap.

Good luck

Just moved back to the US after living in Japan for 10 years. I would drop a line in the Japan forum if you haven’t already.

Definitely spend time seeing things in Japan. Tokyo is great for the metropolis feel, great food and lots of beer options as someone mentioned above. There are great day trips to be had from Tokyo (Nikko, Kamakura and if you like hiking then Okutama is a cool spot).

Beer bars in Tokyo worth hitting for quality Japanese beer ticks: Ushi-Tora, Craft Heads, and the craft beer market chains speckled around the city. There are other great bars like Watering Hole but they also have a lot of American craft beers on which is cool, but if you are looking for Japanese beer ticks then I wouldn’t recommend it.

Mikkeller Tokyo will be back up and running by October, so that would be cool if you are into that.

Yokohama has some good beer spots as well, but definitely hit up beach muffin in Zushi if you go to Kamakura (it’s not too far, but out of the way for sure). Yorocco makes some of the best beer in Japan and they have a small taproom in there and shouldn’t be missed. Thrash Zone is also a lot of fun for American influenced big, bold hoppy beers and crazy cheap prices.

Definitely reach out to the Japan forum and TimE, shoulderbroken and biirusaikou will give you information on Tokyo. KyotoLefty and KansaiBeerLovers will hook you up for information about Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe.

If you need any other advice or tips or just want to know what neighborhoods to hit in Tokyo for what just send me a BM.

Cheers,
Will

If you want to impress the wife, you should try to hit fall colors in the countryside, which at higher elevations should be peaking about that time. I know you probably won’t do it, but I’d scrap Hiroshima (nice museum, good oysters but that is about all it has going for it) and do something to Nagano (more over Matsumoto/Kamikochi area) and across to Takayama. From there bus/train down to Kyoto. Give yourself at least three days for this.

I think RB has places covered pretty well for beer and there are some sake places listed

Kyoto and Tokyo both need a solid four days each, easily more with side trips and if you want to hit some beer focused places.

Tim