Utsunomiya

The Lion’s Head

1800 – ? on utsunomiya main street, several blocks from utsunomiya tobu station and about 10-15 minutes walk from utsunomiya jr, across from the washington hotel. remodeled in july of 2007, this is the primary hangout for gaijins in the area. atmosphere is your typical english pub, be it without a large screen tv for soccer games. beers start at about 600 yen, guinness, other hard to find brews, and wine are available. fish and chips are worth ordering off of the menu, but most other food items are too small and unevenly priced. english spoken.

Nohkin’s

1800 – 0200 (s-th, -0500 f, sat. directly above the lion’s head on utsunomiya main street, 2nd floor. see above. the bar itself is dark and the music quality varies live or recorded, but the drink menu is one of the more aptly available. a large assortment of cocktails, wines, champagnes, and brews from local and international areas are available. drinks start at about 500 yen. ask about their famous waiter who bares a strong resemblance to ichiro of american baseball fame. some english spoken.

Bird Land

on the same side of the road as the lion's head, cross the crossing immediately west of the lion's head, it's about 50 yards away. this is the most well known night club in utsunomiya. expect to find japanese, brazilians and some native english speakers there on the weekends. plays mainly dance and hip-hop. serves kirin, guinness, a large array of spirits etc. serves particularly good western food. mostly deserted during the week. also check out the izakaya samurai which is below bird land.

Utsunomiya bills itself as a jazz town and a cocktail area. The quality varies however, in both departments of jazz and cocktails. Cover charges as high as 4000 yen can be expected, with cocktails starting at 1000 yen per drink.

For regular bar experiences, see below.