Drinking

Drinking in groups at bars, clubs and other nightspots after office hours is a popular Japanese pastime. Every city, town and village has an abundant number of drinking places that can be very crowded in evening hours. The biggest cities have sprawling entertainment districts crammed with bars, pubs, discos and nightclubs. At Japanese-style bars, a modest snack is often served with the first drink. If you need to be budget-minded, avoid the very expen- sive hostess clubs unless someone else who is a regular customer is picking up the bill. You can also ask the con- cierge at your hotel to suggest nearby nightspots where pric- es are reasonable.

Boftoms Up

Beer: The most popular drink in Japan, beer is served draft from the tap or in boftles of lager. Boftles come in small (330mf), medium (500mf) and large (633mi) sizes. The bot- tles served at most pubs or bars are either small or medium. Draft beer comes in jugs or mugs at beer halls. During the summer season, open-air beer halls, some on the roofs of department stores, draw large numbers of beer lovers. The price for a boftle or mug of beer can vary somewhat by type of drinking spot, but is within a range of ,)9400 to )(900 from small to large. This does not apply to the hostess clubs, where prices can be astronomical.

Sake: Japan's own native rice wine is the national drink. Sold in large boftles at liquor shops, it is not served by the boftie but in small ceramic flasks, from which it is poured into a small drinking cup. You can ask to have it served warm or cold. You can also state a preference for dry or sweet taste. Whichever type you like, sake's smooth and mellow taste makes it the ideal companion to Japanese cui- sine. Sake can be deceptive, so drink it quite moderately in order to avoid a hangover.

Whiskey: Prices of domestic and imported whiskies tend to vary by type of drinking spot, but a single shot is usually )cts500-Y7OO for a domestic brand and )(600-)(800 for an import. Most Japanese people drink it mizuwari-with ice and mineral water. Expensive glacier ice, said to lend the most delicious taste to whiskey, is a current fad in Japan.

Wine: Both domestic and imported wines are served in res- taurants that serve Occidental cuisines. A Chinese variant, lao chu, is served in Chinese restaurants. Upscale wine bars that feature good wines (and appropriate snack foods) have gained in popularity over the past few years. Shochu: This distilled spirit made from sweet potatoes, wheat, sugar cane or other bases is simiiar to vodka. It can be drunk straight, on the rocks, or in cocktails. Once held in low esteem, it is now quite fashionable among young peo- ple. The most popular brands do not have the strong flavor that most people disliked. It's served at most Japanese-style bars at a reasonable price.

Where to Drink

Finding a congenial drinking spot within your budget can pose a problem. Some general guidelines can be helpful, with the price of a small boftle of beer as an example. A modest price is 400yen or less; fair 400yen -600yen; expensive 600yen -l,200yen; and very expensive l,200yen or more. 

  Type of Place 		Price Range
  Beer halls or beer gardens    Modest to fair
  Robatayaiki   		Modest to fair
  Akachochin    		Modest to fair
  Yakitoriya    		Modest to fair
  Bars without hostesses   	Modest to expensive
  Bars with hostesses		Expensive to very expensive
  Pubs    			Modest to fair
  Clubs   			Modest to very expensive
  Cabarets			Expensive to very expensive
  Hotel cocktail lounges/bars   Fair to expensive

A robatayaki pub features seafood and other taste treats grilled on open hearths in front of the customer and often served on long-handled shovels that slip the food onto the customer's plate.

Akachochin bars take their name from the red lantern strung up by the entrance. They serve a variety of drinks and a la carte dishes.

Yakitoriya are Japanese pubs that serve bite-size chunks of chicken and other selections barbecued on skewers.

Chain pubs-among them Suishin, Yoronotaki, Tsuboha- chi and Tengu-also serve a variety of dishes with drinks and are a safe choice price-wise.

Drinking Etiquefte

In cozy and friendly Japanese-style bars, customers often pour drinks for each other from boftles of beer as a gesture of companionship. If you are a fellow beer drinker, recipro- cate with your own boftle. A whiskey drinker may invite you to drink from his boftle and fix a drink for you. In this case, you need not reciprocate unless you have your own boftle. (Many of these bars have a "boftle-keep" system for regular patrons who buy a boftle from time to time as it is less expensive than paying for single drinks over the long run.)

If with a group, do not begin to drink until everyone is served. Glasses are raised in the traditional salute as every- one shouts "Kampai!" (Cheers!)

If you drink sake, and someone offers a drink from his carafe, drink what remains in your cup before holding it out. In this case, too, reciprocate. But don't let it get out of hand. Pouring sake for each other at high speed can get you drunk much faster than you might imagine.

Excessive drinking is frowned on. But it happens. Rely on the bartender if someone close to you gets too boisterous.

Japanese students have three years of English-language studies in middle (junior-high) school. Many go on to become good or even fluent English conversationalists. You are likely to come across them in bars that cater to business people who work at general trading houses or other com- panies with international business dealings. Even small talk in broken English, with the aid of body language, can make the evening all the more enjoyable. Don't hesitate to jump in.