Hi everyone, hope you’re staying warm and safe in the blizzard!
So I live in a Tohoku are in the central city of my prefecture (about 300 thousand people or so). I came here during covid (2021) and hadn’t had a chance to experience night life / party life before then. Obviously, during covid many places were shut down and it was rare to see people outside at night. Things have definitely improved since then. That said…
In my town, I know maybe 3-4 bars that are open Fri-Sun and offer some kind of socializing. We don’t have a single dance club. Concerts / events are rare, and when they happen, they are too expensive for their level. At some point I visited Aomori city and it was almost completely dead. I found only 2 places open, with 2.5 people in each haha.
When I visited Tokyo for a few days in the past couple of months, I expected to see a lot more nightlife, and, of course, to some extent, there were more options (definitely more dance / international events that I found on Meetup and Facebook). But even there it felt too quiet, too… idk, lacking places totally packed with people? (I might have simply missed them, I admit).
I’m looking to hear from people who have experiences with nightlight in Japan both pre and post-covid – especially in relation to the type of place you live in (rural vs. urban, big vs. mid-size vs. small city, and which region of Japan), and in comparison with your previous countries of residence / travel. Was it better pre-covid, and if yes, in what ways? How much exactly has covid changed nightlife in Japan? I guess I am trying to tease apart the impact of the pandemic vs. the Japanese way of life in general. I wasn’t a party animal until I came here, so this really is the first time I am actively seeking out these social experiences, and I struggle to find them. Would love to hear your insights!
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We live in a small city south of Fukuoka in Kyushu. All of the bars and restaurants in this area are back to their pre-covid schedules. They still require masks except when you’re seated at your table but otherwise are open for business as usual.
Having spent a lot of time in Vegas nightclubs there are perhaps a dozen clubs in the entirety of Japan that are similar in scale.
None of them are, or have ever been (to my knowledge), in Tohoku. Tokyo had more options prepandemic but still has some like Warp Shinjuku, Womb, Camelot, etc. Elsewhere you have options like Owl Osaka and King Xmhu in Sapporo.
From what I’ve seen pre and post pandemic I’d say places that survived are similarly busy, with the only major difference being masks being worn by most people before they receive their first drink.
Nightlife in Japan is specifically found in entertainment districts, so even if you visit major cities if you only stay in business, residential, or shopping districts your options will be similarly limited as it would be in more rural locations.
I don’t know where you were staying in Tokyo but Shibuya, Roppongi, and Kabukicho are where you will find the vast majority of nightlife.
You live in a city of 300,000 people and there are only 3-4 bars open on the weekend?
I’m in a rural area and things are almost back to normal. There were a few shops that closed down back in 2020-2021, but there have been some new places opening up. I think there are less parties going on. There used to be a lot of work groups going out and then they’d have their after parties that spilled over into other places. I did see more parties around new years than before, but still not as much as pre-corona.
We’re not post-pandemic yet, but most bars and restaurants are back to normal. Places are still understaffed due to frequent illness, and things like music events get canceled a lot. But the nightlife is there in pretty much its previous form.
I never got the feeling that Japan was the place to party. A week or so ago on “Yoru no kenmin show” they said that shops in the night district of Yamagata’s capital basically close up by 10 pm and there are maybe 4 places open past midnight. Everyone just goes home by 10 or drives to the mountains.
If that’s your city, OP, it was like that before covid.
Clubs with people dancing and drinking are (or were) rarer in areas outside of Tokyo. I remember when I moved to Japan and I heard about these laws stating an establishment is either a bar or a dance club, but can’t be both. Places that did (do?) both dancing and serve drinks have been (from what I remember) really expensive for what you get.
Where were you in Tokyo?
Also a party animal before I arrived, and still am. I live in the countryside and I agree that it’s mostly dead. In my town there are two bars that are worth going to and it’s hit or miss if there’s more than five people there on any given Saturday night. Covid has little to do with this, though it was much worse at the beginning. This will be the same anywhere rural.
That being said, I find it hard to believe you went to any of the bigger cities and found them lacking options. Even during the height of Covid, it didn’t take me long to find a nightclub in Fukuoka that was jam packed wall to wall with younger people. Now it’s totally back to normal, minus the masking. My advice is go to the bigger cities, you’ll find what you’re looking for.
Aomori city is the most “dead” city I’ve been to in Japan. I couldn’t blame it on COVID, because Sendai and Akita were popping off at night during the same trip. Aomori kind of had a very sinister energy.
Be aware that much Japanese social/nightlife occurs Monday to Thursday night (work related) and that many places can be busier then than they are Friday/Saturday night (family nights).
Note, this changes to some degree by city/neighbourhood and commuting times