I have been to Tokyo many times in the past, and I have always wanted to go to Golden Gai but never got the opportunity to. But when I was talking with my coworker about it this time, he had mentioned he might be interested in going too and being that this may be one of my last trips although I always say that , I really knew that I needed to try to go now if I was ever going to make.
What is Golden Gai and why have I always wanted to go? Golden Gai is a small area of Shinjuku in Kabukicho that contains tiny little establishments some with only enough seating for 6 people. The area itself only compromises a few streets but in these streets there are over of these little bars and restaurants clustered here all managing to somehow stay in business and fight change while everything else around them has been demolished and redeveloped.
This is a part of Tokyo history that rarely exists anymore in this day and age. There are other establishments similar to some of the Golden Gai places scattered around Tokyo. But they are fewer and farther between and not as concentrated as they are in Golden Gai. The area of Golden Gai itself consists of about 6 streets located between the Shinjuku City Office and the Hanazono Shrine and is only a few minutes walk from the Shinjuku train station if you are trying to get there yourself.
We had grabbed some dinner nearby and then made our way through the streets, many of them seemingly a lot quieter than I would have expected.
As I walked through I peered into many of the different places, seeing bars and chairs with barely any room for movement with the tenders only really being able to or needing to turn to serve every patron in the establishment. The buildings appear to be nothing more than groupings of ramshackle huts and you wonder how they have managed to survive and thrive in this area. Many of these buildings are not individual places but instead a collection of multiple unique establishments.
