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Toyama Bars
The most common types of drinking establishments in Toyama City are Snack Bars-tiny one room joints featuring karaoke and super expensive drinks. They are often frequented by salarymen, winding down from another day at the grindstone. Many snack bars have a by-the-hour seating charge, so beware! If you want to experience a “sunakku”, most of these bars are located in the neighborhood behind the CIC building. There are too many to list all of them in this guide. You will probably get invited to a snack bar after enkais. This is known as the “second party”. Get ready to sing, like it or not!
Most of the bars are pretty small, but there’s still a good time to be had, and plenty of places to drink away your wages. The following bars are popular among Toyama JETs. They’re mainly located around the station area or in Nishi-cho, and most of them don’t have a cover charge.
Artists
The place to see live music in Toyama. There are live shows everyday of the week. Music ranges from punk to pop to jazz. Prices range from 1000-2500 yen for tickets, drink included. Beer is about 500 yen a bottle. Cool place with a great atmosphere.
Getting there: Take the tram to Nischi-cho. Walk into the shopping street opposite of Seibu. Go all the way down the shopping street and turn right at the intersection before the main road. Artists will be on your left.
Bal’s Bar
On the second floor of the same row of buildings as Tengu, Bal’s Bar has good karaoke. Nomihoudai is available but poor ALTs often secretly bring in their own booze as there is a non-drinking karaoke option as well (about 1100 yen for 2 hours).
Bar Maxx
Bar Maxx is known as the Brazilian Bar. Usually frequented by the local Brazilians and all foreign workers (entertainment visa holders) in the ken. The bar opens late and stays open as long as you want to drink. Don’t be surprised if the sun is already up and people are going to work when you leave the bar. It’s the main place to go if you want to keep drinking when all the other bars close. Drinks cost 2,000 yen for 3 drinks and there is no cover charge.
Getting there: From Sonic, take the right with Penny Black on the corner. Go down the long street filled with hostess and karaoke bars. Turn right at Dandy Lion flower shop (popeye’s will be on your left). Take the next left and go all the way down the street. You will see Bar Maxx on your left, on the second floor.
Fiorentina’s Wine Bar
Hours: Monday to Saturday 19:00-?
This is a superb little Italian bistro. The owner spent some time in Italy, so his pasta is pretty decent, as are the salads and cheese. The main reason for going to this place is the wine. Having spent time abroad the owner knows that red wine should be served at room temperature and white wine should be cold- now if only he could tell the rest of Japan that. A bottle goes for around 2,000-3,000 yen, and half bottles for 1,500 yen. Good place for you and a couple of friends, but not for a party.
Getting There: walk around the back of the CIC and follow the road with your back to the CIC. Fiorentina is on the right with a huge wooden barrel outside.
Generate
Hours: 22:00-2:00
Tel: 076-444-5359
Another club with a diverse range of music. The atmosphere is more like a party in someone’s cellar than a nightclub, but can be fun if you go with a group.
Getting There: From the back side of the CIC building, go straight to Tengu. There will be a small side street to your left (a “Big Tiger” pachinko parlour is on the corner). Turn left here and Generate is a few doors down on your left. It`s in the basement.
The Jazz Bar
Hours: 19：00-3：00
Tel: 076-441-5261
The Jazz bar is a gem. If you like jazz this is the place to go; they have an enormous collection of CDs and are almost guaranteed to have anything you ask for. A little on the expensive side, but there’s no cover charge and they make Japan’s best dry martini. It has a really great atmosphere...you would have no idea there’s a strip club below it.
Getting there: From behind the CIC, go down the street with the 21 Building on your left. Cross at the lights, and go straight. At a corner on your left you’ll see ‘Popeye’s’ (you can’t miss the bright lights, the bouncer, and the big mermaid sign). Jazz bar is upstairs, there’s a sign of a silhouetted sax player.
Mairo
Hours: 22:00-2:00
Toyama’s main nightclub. It’s pretty small, but lively. A diverse range of music is played, from hip hop to trance, ska to house, punk to techno. Expect to pay a cover charge of 2000-4000 yen including one drink. Hip Hop nights are lively and usually frequented by many ALTs. You can also see their website http://www.mairo.com for the schedule.
Getting There: 5th floor of the 21 Building
Or Bar-The American Bar
Hours: 21:00-2:00
Nice bar run by a Japanese guy named Kaz who speaks very good English. Has stacks of CD’s, so you can pretty much pick the music you want to listen to, or bring your own. Beer is about 500 yen a bottle.
Getting there: Take the tram to Nishi-cho. Walk into the Seibu side of the Sogawa shopping street. Take your first right at NOVA, then take your first left. You will see 'Or Bar-The American Bar' on your left.
Pub Pot Still
Hours: 19：00～2：00
Tel: 076-433-3347
Toyama’s ‘Irish’ bar. It has a good menu, in English, which includes potatoes, sausages, and even fish and chips! It has both Guinness (900 yen/pint) and Bass (800 yen/pint) on draught, darts (real and electronic), and a pool table (1000 yen/hr). The staff are really friendly and speak a fair bit of English.
Getting There: Behind the CIC Building, go straight with the 21 Building on your left. Go through the intersection, and Pot Still will be on your left.
Rock Bar (Burning Rocks)
Hours: 7pm to 2am
A quaint family owned establishment that relishes in its tributes to classic rock bands of yore. This is a good place to go if you want to jam out on the house instruments. Owned by a husband and wife whose hair would give Axel Rose a run for his money. Bottled beer will run you about 600/700 yen.
Getting there: On the tram road towards Nishi-cho, turn right after Shidax (before Saizeriya). Go straight and look for a sign on your right that says Rock Bar. It will be on the third floor.
Sonic
Hours: 22:00-whenever
A tiny bar owned by a cool Japanese guy named Junichi. A nice starting point for a good ole’ Toyama-style bender. Located in the heart of Toyama’s red light district, there are plenty of hostess, karaoke, and shady bars very near. It’s happy hour all night long and all drinks are 500 yen. An added bonus are the free peanuts.
Getting there: See directions for Rock Bar. Then take your first right. You’ll see lots of hostess bars. Take the first left you see. You’ll see Sonic on the right (Second floor).
The 21 Building
The 21 Building is a slightly scary looking maze of karaoke bars and drunken Japanese people. Most of the bars have ‘nomihoudai’ deals-all you can drink for one or two hours, or however long you want to stay at the bar. They will usually quote one hour for 2,000 yen and two hours for 3,000 yen, but most bars will give you 2 hours for 2,500 yen. Pretty much all the bars have the same prices, and the same karaoke selection. Some have better drinks than others, though. Skippers, Sparks, and Toy Story are popular with ALTs.
Getting There: Behind the CIC Building
Zion Gate
Hours: 18:00-2:00
The ‘Sound of Jamaica’, apparently. Good rum, Red Stripe (800 yen), and an outdoor porch, to drink a few beers when its nice out. There is also food available.
Getting there: Take the tram to Nischi-cho, turn left at the big crossroads. Zion Gate is on the right. You will see the Bob Marley flag.
The All-Nighter's Guide to Toyama Station and its Immediate Surroundings!!!
By Brad Griffith
So friend, you've decided to stay out all night? Well, let this guide ease you in to the next day as gently as the smell of Folgers in the morning.
First and foremost, the station itself: Don't look for warmth in the bathrooms, you won't find any. However, the station bathrooms are fairly clean. If you are planning on staying for several nights, you can probably rent out the pay toilet, but that's never a good option since no matter how clean they are, station toilets always smell like tinkle. Rather, I would suggest to you go in to the small waiting room by the Soba Shop. It is a warm place, and the TV is always on. If you can sleep sitting up, feel free to grab an hours worth of intermittent cat naps on one of the many octagonal cushions in the middle of the room. Go ahead, people won't mind. Most of them are bums like you. Especially that real bum that often sleeps, laying down, across all of the cushions. You could ask him to leave, I suppose, but have a heart, the guy has no shoes for crying out loud.
Need some entertainment? Don't try the bowling alley, you silly ass, It's closed until 10am. I found this one out the hard way. I sat staring into its unfathomable darkness at 8am when I ran into one of the employees coming to clean for opening. She smiled that smile you smile at insane people that you half pity, and told me come back at 10. Buck up, though, kiddo. There is still much to do in the twilight hours of the morning! Might I suggest grabbing a hearty meal of mystery meat at Yoshinoyas? Always friendly, always warm, always cheap. Take a load off.
So you've eaten, you catnapped, you've walked about, but you still need to kill some time before you go bowling at 10am? Why not try Mr. Donuts? The family friendly atmosphere, rockin' music, and bottomless coffee make Mr. Donuts a must see for the all-nighter. Every twenty minutes or so one of the nice worker-ladies will walk around with a pot of coffee, filling up anyone who looks tired. Believe me, they will fill you up as long as you sit there. I sat there for over an hour, and they just kept coming! Four steaming cups of coffee later you might still be shaking when you step outside, but it won't be from the cold!
Cap off the remaining half of an hour before Golden Bowl opens with a quick visit to The Circle K across the street. Peruse the 999 yen movie selection while you grab a bottle of champaigne and some OJ. It's time to bowl.
Pop the cork and sip on some mamosas whilst you warm up your bowling arm for your 12pm engagement. When all is said and done, you will have been awake for over thirty hours! Kick back and relax, friend. You deserve it.