Where Nights Don’t End

A scene from French poetry; a street filled with glowing gems.Welcome to Miyakobashi’s craft beer haven.

A scene from French poetry; a street filled with glowing gems.
Welcome to Miyakobashi’s craft beer haven.

First timers to the hidden gem of Miyakobashi Shotengai, a lively two-story shopping street in Yokohama’s Noge area, are often enamored by its countless bars and rows of lights glowing in the evening. Under the influence of a couple of early drinks, these illuminations appear gem-like and majestic against their retro backdrops. Tucked away on this street is a craft beer haven, whose wooden entrance leads to a world of light, much like a gem in it of itself.

Dubbed Una casa de G.b. G.b. El Nubichnom (“G.b. G.b.” is pronounced “gubi gubi” and refers to the Japanese onomatopoeia for “gulp gulp”), the bar is run by a trustee of the Japan Craft Beer Association. Here, you can choose drinks from a variety of local microbreweries or, if you have trouble deciding, simply ask Mr. Kaji, the owner, for a recommendation. The oversized goblets glisten in golden hues against the light coming in from the window, underneath which is a small counter where you can stand and chat. Thoughts drift by as you gaze below at the gently flowing Ooka River, and it’s as if you’ve been transported to the scene of French poet Guillaume Apollinaire’s “Le Pont Mirabeau,” a love poem titled after a bridge in Paris. Sooner or later, romantic notions fill your mind. With the river pulsing beneath you, it’s the ideal place to reflect on love, loss and unstoppable time. Come nighttime, the river’s surface fills with reflecting neon lights. To indulge in this view, coupled by the luxury of pint upon pint of delicious craft beer, is no average affair. Such experiences are possible, however, in these unassuming city nooks. It’s a side of Yokohama you may have otherwise overlooked had you not known about it.

Una casa de G.b. G.b. El Nubichnom

Una casa de G.b. G.b. El Nubichnom

1-1 Miyagawacho, Naka-ku, Yokohama
Tel: 045-231-3626
Mon, Wed, Thu 5:30pm – 10:30pm, Fri 5:30pm – 11:30pm
Sat 3pm – 11:30pm, Sun 3pm – 8pm (until 9pm during summer)
Closed Tue & days otherwise noted on the website
https://ameblo.jp/el-nubichinom/
*Times and days are subject to change. Please check the website for updated information.

Whiskey, cocktails and leisure — slow and endless — from dusk till dawn at Casablanca.

Whiskey, cocktails and leisure — slow and endless — from dusk till dawn at Casablanca.

Being open until dawn doesn’t make a bar exceptional if its seats are empty by the time twilight comes around. The sign of a truly great bar, then, is its ability to lull guests into forgetting the time as hours and emptied drinks go by until suddenly, morning arrives. With a name that harks back to Hollywood’s seminal wartime romance, Casablanca Katano Shurui Hanbai is ideal for those looking to sip slowly on whiskey and craft cocktails all through the night.

Once inside, the bar’s owner, Mr. Katano, or perhaps a young apprentice of his, welcomes you with a warm smile. Even on a crowded day, the bartender will make space for you at the bar and, every so often, someone will kindly give up their seat so that you may also indulge in Casablanca’s relaxed ambiance. This kind of unspoken kinship and fluidity are what make this bar exceptional — in addition to, of course, being open until the early morning hours. The otoshi (a small, compulsory appetizer served in Japanese bars and restaurants) is exquisitely arranged regardless of the time of day and makes for a perfect companion to your first drink. What was meant to be a quick nightcap slowly rolls into the next hour, and the next. Before you know it, the first trains of the day are gearing up at the station, ready to take you home after a long, fulfilling night of luxury and leisure.

Casablanca Katano Shurui Hanbai

Casablanca Katano Shurui Hanbai

203 Corpo Sun Life Otacho, 2-31-3 Otamachi, Naka-ku, Yokohama
Tel: 045-228-7377
Daily 6pm – 5am (closed New Years)
*Times and days are subject to change. Please call before making a visit.

Whiskey like velvet, stirred by Yokohama’s oldest bartender. Enter Apollo, a 50-year-old cornerstone of the city’s nightlife.

Whiskey like velvet, stirred by Yokohama’s oldest bartender.
Enter Apollo, a 50-year-old cornerstone of the city’s nightlife.

Established in 1964, Apollo is run by the oldest bartender in Yokohama. The owner, named Mr. Ishihara, opened the bar in the year of Tokyo’s first Olympic Games. Wielding an icepick, he cheerfully declares, “I opened this bar in the year of the Olympics. I’m determined to make it to the next one,” referring to the now delayed 2020 Games. Chilled with ice and then gently stirred, the whiskey that Mr. Ishihara slides onto the counter is smooth like velvet.

Film directors and writers who reside in or pass through Yokohama frequent the bar, but it’s also a welcome space for newcomers making a serendipitous stop. With decades of experience, the bartender knows how to maintain an ambiance. Aside from taking orders, Mr. Ishihara ensures that all guests feel uninterrupted and at ease during their stay. Apollo is also one of the few bars left in Yokohama with a jukebox equipped with everyone’s favorite oldies.

Often, a sip of whiskey is all you need, but a drink like velvet, served and perfected by one of the most capable hands in the city, is what you’ll get at Apollo.

Apollo

Apollo

4-45 Akebonocho, Naka-ku, Yokohama
Tel: 045-261-2576
7pm – 3am (closed Tues)
*Times and days are subject to change. Please call before making a visit.

A McIntosh preamplifier and Altec speakers.
As long as it’s blues on vinyl, the music’s on loop at BAR KC.

A McIntosh preamplifier and Altec speakers.
As long as it’s blues on vinyl, the music’s on loop at BAR KC.

Though equipped with the world’s best-known whiskey brands, this bar is less about what’s trending and more about consistent, pristine taste. It could be a longstanding, coveted batch of bourbon, but if the flavor is off even just one year, it’s certainly straight off the shelves here.

Such integrity is apparent in BAR KC, which is located in the backstreets of Sumiyoshicho in Kannai, an area of Yokohama famed for its tourist spots. Having been around for some 20 years, the establishment is, ostensibly, for those in the know. Pull open its hefty steel door, marked by a wooden handle in the shape of a cross, and before you is a counter wide enough to fit, at most, five or six people. The space suffices, however, to engage in lively tête-à-têtes with the bartender or quietly gaze into the back bar until you’re ready for your next drink. Bottles, audio equipment and rows of vinyl records fill your vision. The sound system consists of a Jim Kelley vacuum tube amplifier (or valve amplifier) made in the U.S., combined with a McIntosh preamplifier, which helps amplify the signal from the turntable. Owing to the valve amplifier perhaps, the music that flows throughout the space feels at once bluesy and warm — which, in a way, precisely sums up BAR KC’S enticing ambiance.

BAR KC

BAR KC

6-24 Sumiyoshicho, Naka-ku, Yokohama
Tel: 045-212-2300
6pm – 1am (closed Sun and hols)
*Times and days are subject to change. Please call before making a visit.

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