United Nations of Beer

How to buy beer in Japan

by Douglas Gloag
(Beer Delegate, Japan)

How to buy beer in Japan

Maybe your image of a Japanese person abroad is one of a glasses-wearing, photo-taking business man who doesn't drink that much. They do exist, but put any Japanese person over 18 (the legal limit for drinking is 20, but ID is only checked in the big cities) on home ground and you'll find any old day is good for drinking.

I've often been told after worrying about a heavy work load the next day that Ashita wa ashita, kyo wa kyo. A literal translation for this would be, "Tomorrow is tomorrow, today is today", but a more natural translation would be, "Forget tomorrow, drink now!"

Drinking in Japan is almost state-sanctioned and you can bet your bottom yen that 95% of the population will be drinking on a few certain days of any year. Great, but where can you go to get a drink? And when you get there, do you know how to buy beer in Japan?

There are three kinds of places to get beer or other drinks. An English-style pub (only common in the big cities), a snack run by 30-50+ women, primarily open to just drink and burden the women with all your problems and an izakaya, the most common type.

The local "walk down the road to your nearest pub" kind of place doesn?t really exist in Japan. Instead there are drinking zones where one area will be crammed with different drinking establishments (and the odd girlie bar). It really is NOT advisable to go for a pub crawl in Japan! In one multi-storey building you'll be able to find a drinking place on each floor... consider yourself warned!

"In all the places, in all of Japan" (Humphrey Taro) you should be able to find at least one of the five izakaya pubs listed. It is very difficult to find a pub that doesn't have an extensive food menu alongside the drink menu. The greatest thing (or most dangerous thing) about the five places listed below is that they all come with a very user-friendly 'point to order' menu!


How to buy beer in Japan... HA! The pictures of the food are definitely close-ups, but the deal is very affordable (especially if you?re holding British pounds at time of writing!)

I've always found these places to be very friendly and it's quite easy to strike up conversation with the table opposite, or with someone sitting alone at the counter. More on the chat-up guide later: I want to teach you how to buy beer in Japan.

For starters, I'll teach you how to count, although you're not going to like it. There are two (actually three) ways to count! (And there are two words for four and seven, but seriously folks ? it's NOT difficult!)

How to say basic numbers
Number Japanese (pronounciation)

One = ichi (itchy)
Two = ni (knee)
Three = san (sun)
Four = shi or yon (she or as in 'yon'der)
Five = go (rhymes with D'oh!)
Six = roku (rock)
Seven = shichi or nana (sss-each-ee or nanna)
Eight = hachi (rhymes with catchy)
Nine = kyu (queue)
Ten = ju (Jew)

Counting things. One beer, two beers, etc.
Number Japanese (pronounciation)

One = hitotsu (he tots said together fairly swiftly!)
Two = futatsu (who tats soften the 'w')
Three = mittsu (mitts)
Four = yottsu (yachts)
Five = itsutsu (is-zoo-two or hold up five fingers!)
Six = muttsu (moots)
Seven = nanatsu (nanna with a 'ts' attached to the end)
Eight = yatsu (rhymes with rats)

If you need any more beer than that, one of you must be able to speak Japanese!