Nagasaki Joe

A Tokyo rooftop beer garden, July 1973

This is what a Tokyo rooftop beer garden looked like in 1973. One year later, in the summer of 1974, they hadn't changed one iota and this is exactly how I remember them, but this no-frills style was still lots of fun and can even be found today. That said, today there's a much greater variety of rooftop beer gardens and outdoor bars that did not exist in the 70s, such as the ones pictured below. Although I haven't been to a rooftop beer garden in a number of years, now that summer is only about 6 weeks away, I look forward to finding some good ones to pass a hot summer night at. Of course, one can find many rooftop beer gardens with an online Google search, I thought this could be a thread where people could share the names and locations of memorable rooftop (outdoor) beer gardens and bars (anywhere in Japan) that they have actually been to that they recommend and share their experiences or give a short review.

Roppongi BBQ Beer Garden- ARK HILLS SOUTH TOWER ROOFTOP LOUNGE” at Akasaka, Roppongi



Sky Beer Garden, Hilton Hotel, Shinjuku

My first rooftop beer garden experience was at the Takashimaya Department Store in Nihonbashi in the late summer of '74. Although my memory of it is somewhat sketchy, I recall it looking very much like the top 1973 photo, even though Takashimaya is considered an exclusive department store, it had a no-frills feel to it compared to most of the beer gardens of today. IIRC, there were Japanese paper lanterns hanging overhead with the name of the draft beer being served emblazoned on lanterns as an advertisement. I'm sure the beermakers supplied these lanterns to the beer gardens for free. I recall that waitresses came to the table to take orders and that the menu was limited to several staple items such as fried potatoes, sausages, yakitori, yakisoba, etc. It was a very new experience for me that I really enjoyed. In those days, beer gardens were most often found on the roofs of department stores but today they are more often found on the roofs and terraces of hotels and tall buildings. Takashimaya still has a rooftop beer garden that operates during the summer but it is very different from the one that I first experienced.


Takashimaya Department Store, Nihonbashi, Tokyo


Takashimaya's rooftop beer garden today, with private grills for each table

Nagasaki Joe

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AlwaysAisle

The beer garden is something I have not heard about for a while, I am sure it is still around. Yes, I remember beer gardens in the Tokyo area meant rooftops of department stores. I remember beer gardens in the Tokyo area were marketed as casual places where you stop by with coworkers after work. Looks as if today's beer gardens in Tokyo are a little more fancy places, even for dates? I really do not think beer gardens in Tokyo back in '70s and '80s were a place for a date. Possible that department stores started beer gardens to bring more people to department stores. Department stores in Tokyo were, and I think still are, a place for slightly upper-scale shopping, not an everyday shopping place. Beer gardens in Japan are summer outdoor things, no indoor beer gardens in Japan.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

The Ikebukuro Seibu Roof garden ( decorated for the christmas holidays) taken on a damp November 2019 morning ( there was a water lilly garden also)


Rooftop Garden on a damp November 2019 morning




Water lilly garden


Regards

TBS

Pickles

Hands down, my favorite beer garden in Tokyo is the Sekirei at the Meiji Kinenkan: https://www.meijikinenkan.gr.jp/restaurant/sekirei.html

seigex

I love these pictures, and pictures posted in the other threads. I think we should have a pictures of Japan thread in this forum. I know I have a lot that I'd like to share that don't necessarily fit in to the existing threads.

Nagasaki Joe

Yes, I think that's generally true. Most of the Ginza department stores operated rooftop beer gardens back in the 70s and 80s and perhaps still do today. However, Lion has operated indoor German-style beer halls in Tokyo since 1934 (according to their website). They have many in Tokyo but many of them tend to be at the basement level. Here's the Ginza beer hall, which I have been to before.

Lion Beer Hall in Ginza (on 1st floor)

Lion Ginza Beer Hall

Very nice indeed. The lawn looks a lot like the one outside the Terrace Restaurant at the Hotel Okura.

Nagasaki Joe

Not sure if this is what you had in mind, but here is an existing Japan Photography thread

AlwaysAisle

Thank you for the post about Ginza Lion, I totally forgot about this beer hall at Ginza. Ginza Lion also has a beer hall at Shinjuku (website in Japanese only but a lot of pictures), which according to their website it opened in 1937 as Ebisu Beer Garden. Ginza Lion has a restaurant at Haneda Airport Terminal 1, and I have stopped by there a few times when flying JAL domestic just because of nostalgia.

Topcare

Been to this no frills one in kyoto.

https://www.kyoto-towerhotel.jp/restaurant/beergarden/#

and this one in Osaka that appears to be closed now.

https://www.dynac-japan.com/shop/beergarden/dojima/ and sadly used to pop into the www whiskey shop also before it closed years earlier

Same for this place that might also be done.

https://www.hankyu-hotel.com/hotel/h...nts/beergarden

jerry a. laska

Not a beer hall, but I've been to TY Harbor Brewery/Brew Pub/Restaurant in Tennozu Isle to drink some beer brewed there.

bmwe92fan

I used to live right down the street from there -- they used to have the best brunch in town!

bmwe92fan

My wife and I love the Bvlgari Rooftop bar -- but it's been closed a lot due to COVID. My wife loves Champagne -- and I love that we can walk / crawl home easily to Hatchobori....

jerry a. laska

I really enjoyed my visit there and will return when Japan reopens. Unlike most who were there to eat it seems, I visited to try their various beers and the servers were rather interested in making sure I tried every beer they were currently serving (and some they weren’t) while only charging me for a couple of draws. One brewmaster type person had visited one of my local breweries here in Alaska while on a cruise and spent some time discussing the brewery operation.

Nagasaki Joe

St. Regis Osaka has a very nice beer garden on its 12th floor outdoor terrace overlooking a Japanese rock garden. As it does not appear to be advertised yet for this year, here's a link to their 2019 summer beer garden menus with varied options. https://suposaka.net/%E3%80%90st-reg...-april-26-fri/
I was there a few years ago and really enjoyed it with free-flowing beer, wine, Mumm Grand Cordon champagne, cocktail options along with food. My review can be read here: https://www.flyertalk.com/hotel-revi...ka-review-3335

St. Regis Osaka outdoor beer garden

St. Regis Osaka outdoor rock garden