I’ve discovered a tremendous 80s bar in Tokyo’s Sangenjaya. They play classic music all night long, by the likes of Depeche Mode and the Cure. And it’s a “1 coin bar” which means all drinks and food are only 500 yen, and there’s no service charge. The bar is called Toki’s, after the amiable barman who runs the place. Toki looks much too young to have actually been around in the 80s.
I often round off the night with a drink in Toki’s, and inevitably end up chatting to solitary middle aged women, who were into the cheesy pop music the first time round. (These recurring drunken conversations can only lead to no good!)
A nice touch in Toki bar is the big, phone-book-sized list of songs from which you can make requests. It’s fun picking out old favourites, singing along, and wallowing in nostalgia. There’s all sorts of obscure stuff to choose from in that mammoth-sized catalogue, pretty much any tune you could imagine from the 80s. They’ve even got songs by New Order and the Police- sung in Japanese! Sting singing “Do Do Do, Da Da Da” in Nihongo is quite a mind-mashing thing to hear after too many cheap cocktails. I thought I was suffering from some kind of incurable brain-disaster.
Best of all, Toki has an unbelievably cheap happy hour everyday between 7 and 9PM (even on weekends.) Drinks are only 300 yen, which is a Godsend to a poverty-stricken wretch like me.
Toki 80’s Bar
Tel: 03-3487-4665
Open 19:00-04:00
July 9, 2008 at 1:59 pm |
Have ‘em play “Blue Monday” for me!
July 9, 2008 at 7:35 pm |
That’s a classic! They did play that last time I was there actually. But you should hear New Order’s song in Japanese. Insane!
July 10, 2008 at 1:00 am |
Awesome. Do they have “OMD” or “Dead or Alive”?
July 10, 2008 at 1:56 am |
I’m definitely going there this month. Do they have a good sound system? I’ve gotta crank Der Kommisar.
July 10, 2008 at 12:39 pm |
Yeah, they got OMD and Dead or Alive. I only know one Dead or Alive song, but they had a few!
I’m pretty sure they’ll have Der Komissar, too.
Let me know when you’re going there, Billy. I might be able to drop by!
July 10, 2008 at 5:53 pm |
will have to check it out on my next trip – I’m hoping they have teardrop explodes – or The Psychedelic Furs’ pretty in pink!
July 11, 2008 at 12:41 am |
Yep, they’ve probably got both! They’ve got about 50000 songs.
Funnily enough, Iwent to a place called Club Acid once and it was “Psychedelic Furs” night. They were only playing songs by Psychedelic Furs all night! How specialized can you get?
July 14, 2008 at 12:05 am |
SO when are you publishing this places-to-get-mashed-in-Japan-michelin-guide?
You could make a shit-load of money out of it … likeselling it to US-services men in Japan.
July 16, 2008 at 2:36 am |
Might go to Toki 80’s the Saturday or Sunday after next. I’ll let you know.
July 16, 2008 at 11:25 am |
OK! Keep me posted.
July 29, 2008 at 6:10 pm |
Hmmm… Sugar Mama… All your money troubles are over!
July 29, 2008 at 9:38 pm |
Not a bad idea!