there’s still several alternatives in Osaka, though. Dainibiru 2 has a great showa theme izakaya, ramen, small bars, etc :
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298566-d3752528-Reviews-Matsuri_Daiko_Osaka_Station_Dai_ni_2nd_Building-Osaka_Osaka_Prefecture_Kinki.html
Bar Gig’l is my favorite bar in Osaka.
2 floors with the 2nd being just kinda like, your friends living room; an electric drum set, guitars, foosball etc.
Great place to meet fellow travelers as well as locals.
The owner speaks english very well and he’s a really cool guy to talk to.
Bible Cub, I’ve heard is a cool cocktail bar.
A friend of mine works at a bar called Farplane a few days a week, he’s also a great resource if you happen to run into him, also speaks very good english.
These places are all in Amemura.
Someone told me recently about a Harry Hosono themed bar in Osaka that I’d love to go to someday.
I don’t have an address or name but i have an image which may allow you to find it, also maybe it’s not even there anymore! Who knows!
Might take some work to find but you should be able to find the general area.
Apparently it has some Harry Hosono posters on the outside of it.
This place is in Kita ward.
Less familiar with Tokyo but last time there i did go to THE Champion Bar and that’s a great if you’re just looking to party/do karaoke with strangers.
There’s a place in I’m interested in called Ace’s Music Salon that seems to be one of the more chill foreigner-friendly bars in Golden Gai.
Keep in mind this in Kabukicho.
I love it there, but it’s not for everybody.
I wasn’t sure if it would be for me at first either.
King Tokyo (and Queen Tokyo) are some of the bigger gay bars in the area, but there are more near them.
Greetings fellow Japan-fans! I was wondering if anyone may know where would be a good spot to pick up some secondhand, vintage, or alternative clothes. I’m having a year-long ramble through Japan thanks to my shiny new working holiday visa but my nomadic existence means the usual otaku-type trinkets that one may acquire in Japan will be only a bulky hindrance. Clothes are they only practical self-gift I can rationalise treating myself to.
I’m currently staying in Shinjuku (“oh cool that’s the place from Yakuza, let’s stay there”) but will be spending time in Kyoto, Osaka, Nagano, Hiroshima, Fukuyama, etc, etc. I would be very grateful if anyone can recommend shops where I can get cool-guy jackets, military surplus, band t-shirts, jewllery, etc.
On another note, if anyone knows spots to see jazz music please let me know. I’ve been a Ryo Fukui fan since I was a teenager and I’ve always wanted to see jazz perfomed live in Japan.
Go to every 2nd street, go to every book off super bazaar, and dig til you get lucky is my advice. Alternately you can go to an area known for its vintage and consignment shops like kōenji, harajuku, or shimokitazawa (or umeda or amerikamura in Osaka). Depending on your style you may gravitate toward one place or another, but for me I just go to the far flung suburbs and look for the weird stuff. Last month I had good luck in the makuhari super bazaar.
Thanks Chief - fashion street here I come!