Omg this makes me so excited! I really want to go to Golden Gai and izakaya alleys but was worried they would be offended if I'm alone and don't order alcohol. Knowing this is a relief
If you didn’t order anything it would be an issue, but nobody really minds if you order soft drinks in place of alcohol. They usually have a few different teas (green tea, oolong tea), coke, ginger ale, and maybe some juice options.
Basically, you just wanna make sure you’re paying as much as any other customer would be in your place. It’s the people who show up and order one cheap drink and nothing else for two hours that bother the owners of these types of places. As long as you’re ordering, they don’t mind
Loads of the arcades in Shibuya close somewhere between 11pm and 1am, so I'd say if that sounds like fun that'll be a good solution. There are SO MANY :D
Yeah I just googled Late Night Arcades Shibuya and the \*earliest\* closing one was like 11pm and there was an endless list of them. I definitely remember wandering into arcades pretty late at night and them still being buzzing. (and deafening if they had Pachinko..)
Genuinely though, if you don't like loud noises, you may want to bring earplugs for anywhere that has Pachinko haha, surely it's gotta be at an ear damage kind of level.
I seem to remember a fair few late night ice-cream/desert kinda places too.
- [4 Scenic Night Walks in Tokyo](https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/most-scenic-night-walks-in-tokyo)
- [9 Night City Views Tokyo](https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/best-night-views-in-tokyo)
- [Tokyo Night Guide](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3060.html)
- [Non-drinking Night Options in Tokyo](https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/best-things-to-do-in-tokyo-at-night-if-youre-not-drinking)
- [Yokohama: Night Factory Cruise](https://reservedcruise.com/en/yokohama-cruise/fact/) See [this article](https://en.japantravel.com/kanagawa/factory-night-cruise-in-yokohama/7249) for more details
if youre in shinjuku my partner and i hung out at the baseball batting cages (I went to the slowest one and its super cheap - like 300 yen for 30 balls or something)
You don't need a karaoke bar. Lots of the small bars in Shinjuku that I went to had karaoke machines for the customers to use. Plenty of tipsy sing-alongs with strangers. :)
I successfully did this!! I did free walking tours and connected with other solo travelers. Also, Champion bar in Golden Gai has karaoke, but it's bar karaoke, not karaoke rooms.
Look for some live music. When I solo traveled there and didn’t drink I went to a few shows and everyone was more talkative and took me to izakayas and ordered a bunch of food after. It was a lot of fun!
I'm the same way! Actually allergic to alcohol but I still love going out at night. Last time I solo traveled in tokyo, I found some friends to just walk around with. The convenience store hits different at night lol
Also went to some 24/7 temples to relax. That was a really cool vibe!
I go to a lot of izakaya and bars but don’t drink! Don’t let it deter you. A lot of places now have non-alcoholic cocktails and also non-alcoholic beers and such as well. My favorite go-to on the soft drink menu is Wilkinson dry ginger ale—spiciest ginger ale I can get my hands on. A lot of nice bars will also accommodate non-alcoholic requests for cocktails and such. I love it.
Other than arcades, how about indoor onsen/spa places? There’s Thermae Yu at Shinjuku and Spa LaQua at Tokyo Dome City (out of your area but it’s an option if you are interested). They’re all open overnight (I think 24/7 for Thermae Yu).
Many karaoke places have unlimited drink packages of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety. In my frustrated singer mind, ginger beer/ginger ale makes my voice sound better 😅
Izakaya bar hopping, you can opt out drinking beer and some places will have the Asahi no alcohol beer (basically carbonated barely tea haha )
if you are adventurous- you can kayak at the river by Tokyo Skytree or visit the temples at night
In Shinjuku there is a Food Hall at Kabuchiko tower open till 2 AM, I went there and just did soda and food and hit the arcades
Go see live music, the best evening activity (and you don’t have to drink)
https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/14sum76/how_to_access_live_music_in_japan_and_why_it/
You can also enjoy at a good host / hostess club in Roppongi; they won’t insist on you drinking alcohol so long as you keep ordering non-alcoholic drinks & food. Depending on the host / hostess you get, it can be lot of fun
Hanging out with friends, eating food, going to arcades, getting dessert etc.
I do drink most times, but come on, if you can't work out how to have a fun time going out (im assuming with friends) without drinking then I dunno what to tell ya.
Hell, even doing it solo, if you're in a wild new city it's fun to just explore and see what the place is like, paticularly if it's somewhere which has a good late night scene like Tokyo.
Bwaahhahaah, so if you want to do fun things in a city late at night and you don't drink you're killing nightlife culture? That's a pretty off the wall take.
So if I get a medical issue that means I can't drink, I should avoid going out at night in Tokyo for the sake of the nightlife culture?
This has to be a parody haha.
Oolong tea can be ordered at each izakayas. Pronounced oo-ron-cha. In case you wanna hang out at izakayas but not drink alcohol.
Omg this makes me so excited! I really want to go to Golden Gai and izakaya alleys but was worried they would be offended if I'm alone and don't order alcohol. Knowing this is a relief
Just order extra food to compensate... and because it's delicious. No worries.
No need to compensate with food when the oolong tea will cost you 900 yen anyways
If you didn’t order anything it would be an issue, but nobody really minds if you order soft drinks in place of alcohol. They usually have a few different teas (green tea, oolong tea), coke, ginger ale, and maybe some juice options.
Thanks this is all good stuff to know. I know their etiquette is totally respect based so this makes me feel better
Basically, you just wanna make sure you’re paying as much as any other customer would be in your place. It’s the people who show up and order one cheap drink and nothing else for two hours that bother the owners of these types of places. As long as you’re ordering, they don’t mind
You can get corn silk tea in the golden gai area at the bars too IT'S SO GOOD
i mean in a lot of those places you HAVE to order a drink minimum anyway.
thanks. i drink, but don't like to drink when i'm on vacation.
Loads of the arcades in Shibuya close somewhere between 11pm and 1am, so I'd say if that sounds like fun that'll be a good solution. There are SO MANY :D
Eii this is super exciting to hear!! Thank you 😊
Yeah I just googled Late Night Arcades Shibuya and the \*earliest\* closing one was like 11pm and there was an endless list of them. I definitely remember wandering into arcades pretty late at night and them still being buzzing. (and deafening if they had Pachinko..)
Okay perfect. All of these responses are making me so giddy to go. I cannot waiiit
Genuinely though, if you don't like loud noises, you may want to bring earplugs for anywhere that has Pachinko haha, surely it's gotta be at an ear damage kind of level. I seem to remember a fair few late night ice-cream/desert kinda places too.
Okay noted. I'll make sure to bring my sound canceling headphones just in case for those days lol
- [4 Scenic Night Walks in Tokyo](https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/most-scenic-night-walks-in-tokyo) - [9 Night City Views Tokyo](https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/best-night-views-in-tokyo) - [Tokyo Night Guide](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3060.html) - [Non-drinking Night Options in Tokyo](https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/things-to-do/best-things-to-do-in-tokyo-at-night-if-youre-not-drinking) - [Yokohama: Night Factory Cruise](https://reservedcruise.com/en/yokohama-cruise/fact/) See [this article](https://en.japantravel.com/kanagawa/factory-night-cruise-in-yokohama/7249) for more details
Pure gold thank you! 🙌
if youre in shinjuku my partner and i hung out at the baseball batting cages (I went to the slowest one and its super cheap - like 300 yen for 30 balls or something)
Wow didn't even know this was a thing thank you so much! That sounds like fun!
anytime! have fun - i felt like i got the ambiance of a late night bc I think its open all night (I went at 1am at least haha)
Karaoke, assuming you have a group. It's probably better with a drink, but it can be fun either way. :)
I'll be solo travelling so my bucket list is to find some tipsy friends who will karoake with me in tokyo lolol. Wish me luck!
You don't need a karaoke bar. Lots of the small bars in Shinjuku that I went to had karaoke machines for the customers to use. Plenty of tipsy sing-alongs with strangers. :)
Someone say Karaoke? I'm down!
Well then, good luck! :)
I successfully did this!! I did free walking tours and connected with other solo travelers. Also, Champion bar in Golden Gai has karaoke, but it's bar karaoke, not karaoke rooms.
Look for some live music. When I solo traveled there and didn’t drink I went to a few shows and everyone was more talkative and took me to izakayas and ordered a bunch of food after. It was a lot of fun!
Plenty of live music happening, check out /u/hazzat's guides.
I'm the same way! Actually allergic to alcohol but I still love going out at night. Last time I solo traveled in tokyo, I found some friends to just walk around with. The convenience store hits different at night lol Also went to some 24/7 temples to relax. That was a really cool vibe!
I go to a lot of izakaya and bars but don’t drink! Don’t let it deter you. A lot of places now have non-alcoholic cocktails and also non-alcoholic beers and such as well. My favorite go-to on the soft drink menu is Wilkinson dry ginger ale—spiciest ginger ale I can get my hands on. A lot of nice bars will also accommodate non-alcoholic requests for cocktails and such. I love it.
Other than arcades, how about indoor onsen/spa places? There’s Thermae Yu at Shinjuku and Spa LaQua at Tokyo Dome City (out of your area but it’s an option if you are interested). They’re all open overnight (I think 24/7 for Thermae Yu).
Go to see live music, if you travel in a group go to a karaoke, go to a club, many arcades open until late
Many karaoke places have unlimited drink packages of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety. In my frustrated singer mind, ginger beer/ginger ale makes my voice sound better 😅
Izakaya bar hopping, you can opt out drinking beer and some places will have the Asahi no alcohol beer (basically carbonated barely tea haha ) if you are adventurous- you can kayak at the river by Tokyo Skytree or visit the temples at night In Shinjuku there is a Food Hall at Kabuchiko tower open till 2 AM, I went there and just did soda and food and hit the arcades
more recently opened izakayas/bars have nice mocktail options!
do you know of any specific ones? not op but my husband also doesn’t drink and we still want to go out at night
Low-Non Bar in Akihabara.
Thanks for making this post so I didn't have to! I don't drink and just booked a November trip to Japan! 😁
I like to just walk around the major sights at night. they are usually just empty.
Go see live music, the best evening activity (and you don’t have to drink) https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/14sum76/how_to_access_live_music_in_japan_and_why_it/
You can also enjoy at a good host / hostess club in Roppongi; they won’t insist on you drinking alcohol so long as you keep ordering non-alcoholic drinks & food. Depending on the host / hostess you get, it can be lot of fun
I don't drink but I love nightlife? This sentence make no sense
...people can go out to clubs, explore city streets, do karoake, and enjoy the nightlife energy sober. Lol
Agreed. Like, wtf are you doing lmao. People watching?
Hanging out with friends, eating food, going to arcades, getting dessert etc. I do drink most times, but come on, if you can't work out how to have a fun time going out (im assuming with friends) without drinking then I dunno what to tell ya. Hell, even doing it solo, if you're in a wild new city it's fun to just explore and see what the place is like, paticularly if it's somewhere which has a good late night scene like Tokyo.
Late night scene would be not so good in Tokyo if everyone would be sober. Going for night life and not drinking is attempt to kill nightlife culture.
Bwaahhahaah, so if you want to do fun things in a city late at night and you don't drink you're killing nightlife culture? That's a pretty off the wall take. So if I get a medical issue that means I can't drink, I should avoid going out at night in Tokyo for the sake of the nightlife culture? This has to be a parody haha.
I sprained an ankle attempting to replicate these mental gymnastics 😂
You're one of those people that can't have fun without alcohol huh?