You still need to eat…
Save me!
After sitting anxiously in your seat, scooching closer to the big, broad-shouldered, sturdy-looking, strong,
Small dishes served at an Izakaya - looks so good!
stout, I-can-hide-behind-you-lad next to you, it enters…..and thank God you’re not sitting closest to the door! A guy wearing a mask may not be so scary in itself, but when young adults with a very vivid imaginations hears screams and shouts, they tend to hype themselves up. It could have been a guy with a broomstick and wearing a tea cosy as a hat and we would still have screamed – one even cried! Well, almost…So you see, a Japanese guy wearing a Halloween mask, occasionally grunting, can be quite a scary business!
The Lock Up brings you great food, excellent drinks, big bottles of beer and minor heart-attack-inducing entertainment, all in all a good deal for around 3000 yen and just a regular night out.
Eat, drink and….eat
Of course there are those of you (you know who you are, you party poopers!) who’d rather sit and have a laugh with your friends during dinner rather than ordering your courage to go. Well, for you geezers there is a marvelous alternative (a quite traditional one at that!) which involves heaps upon heaps of edamame, beer and good fun.
Izakaya is the name of the game and this is actually a great place to go if you want to experience some good, old Japanese culture. An izakaya is sort of like the British concept of a pub. You can eat and dine in the same place yet it’s not really a restaurant. You can just sit there and drink your beer, enjoy your soybeans and hang out with your friends or business partners. As the Lock Up, you get different dishes you can try out, however be careful, if you are in the company of great Danes with a vikingy appetite, it might not be entirely sufficient. Luckily McDoodles (that’s McDonalds to you non-slang-people) is open 24/7 in Japan as well as most konbini i.e. convenience stores. If you’re scoffing at this, you really are a tad too prudish, no offence.
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Anyway, it’s common for business partners to go to an Izakaya and have a meal and a drink to celebrate a newly formed partnership or honoring an already existing one. The many visits to an izakaya are coincidentally also the reason why many Japanese are drunk before 10 PM. They drink a lot and eat very little, but have such a good time that they forget themselves and just have fun. Hear, hear I say!
Drink, eat and sing till you sound like Dirty Harry!
What Japanese people also tend to do, young and old, this really is for everyone, is going to a karaoke bar afterwards.
Karaoke bar!
It’s great fun and something that is sorely missed in Europe and the rest of the world. In a karaoke bar you pay for a room for X couple of hours and can again order nomihyoudai – all you can drink, like most places e.g. the Lock Up and most Izakayas offer a nomihyoudai-ish solution as well. If you’ve missed the last train, it is also possible to use the room to sleep, that is if you can fall asleep with the sounds of drunken people singing their hearts out. Going to a karaoke bar is a great way to bond with someone, since you can find your absolute favorite song of all time – Backstreet Boys “I want it that way” and sing it with a friend! Of course you can’t hear the other occupants in the rooms next to yours, but you should venture out in search of a toilet, it is actually quite funny to hear the many distorted and not-so-in-tune-voices of happy people. Sometimes though, you stumble upon a voice like sent from above. Don’t you just hate that?
There really aren’t enough karaoke bars in Europe. A great misconception is that when you actually do visit a karaoke bar outside Asia, you have to sing in front of everybody, strangers and your mom, which you might not always have the strength to do – I for one fear for the crowd and their eardrums when it’s my turn to sing. In Asia, or Japan at least, that much I know for sure, you get a private room and can order all the coffee and drinks you’d like for a fixed prince and since the staff is used to a little bit of everything, they don’t even bat an eye at your singing. So nice and reassuring!
Anyway, Karaoke is a fantastic element of Japanese pop-culture, whereas an izakaya gives you an insight to a more traditional approach to drinking and dining. The new concept-restaurants, I hear there’s even a ninja-styled one(!!), are good if you’re in for a little food and drinks without it turning into a cabaret.And it’s a great story to tell your friends!
Karaoke room - looks fun, doesn't it?
“Is Japan as weird as they say?” “ You know what? It’s even better!” 
