Tag: Drinking Culture

(Sapporo Trip – Part 1) Susukino – Shopping, Eating, Drinking

Categories Autumn/Fall, Food and Drink, Seasons, ShoppingLeave a Comment on (Sapporo Trip – Part 1) Susukino – Shopping, Eating, Drinking

 

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Brandon went on a trip to Seoul and Sapporo, so here are some pictures and info from his adventure!

This post will focus on the Susukino Area. Susukino is considered to be one of the major entertainment districts in Japan.

The Susukino Area can be accessed by taking the Namboku Line (heading towards Makomanai) from Sapporo Station and getting off at Susukino Station, which is two stops from Sapporo Station.

Shopping:

When visiting Sapporo, Susukino is an area you must visit. For those who enjoy window shopping, there’s a shopping arcade/street (shōtengai, 商店街) called Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade/Street. Tanukikoji is located just north of Susukino Station. In modern Japanese society where numerous shōtengai are steadily becoming empty “ghost-streets”, a stroll through Tanukikoji is experiencing a fusion of traditional and modern Japanese culture.

Eating:

For ramen lovers, Sapporo is heaven. Many visitors check out the Ramen Yokochō (Ramen Alley) in Susukino for their first bowl of ramen, but if you are more adventurous, skip Ramen Yokochō and explore less-traveled side-streets to find your bowl of steaming perfection.

Other than ramen, there are many types of food to make your waistline bulge: jingisukan (“Genghis Khan”: grilled mutton), seafood, and more.

For more photos of food, check out this post we wrote about Sapporo and Otaru.

Drinking:

For those who love their alcohol, Susukino has a lot of places to satisfy your thirst while eating delicious food. Just be careful of drinking too much at a nomihōdai (all-you-can-drink)!

When eating/drinking while traveling Japan, if you want to try many types of food and restaurants, we recommend not eating or drinking too much at one place. However, if you are paying a good amount of money at a certain establishment, get your money’s worth!

Keep an eye out for future posts about more food (of course) and other places to check out while visiting Sapporo!

Part 2  – Japanese Fast Food
Part 3 – Jingisukan (Grilled mutton)
Part 4 – Mt. Moiwa
Part 5 – COSTCO

Kanpai!!! Drinking Culture in Japan

Categories Food and DrinkLeave a Comment on Kanpai!!! Drinking Culture in Japan

It’s Chad again!

Kanpai is usually translated as “cheers” or “bottoms up” but literally means “dry glass”. Every culture has its own drinking culture, so in this post, we are going introduce a few aspects of the drinking culture in Japan.

Pau Hana Drinks

Japanese society is not only infamous for its work-work-work culture, but also its drink-a-ton-of-alcohol-after-work culture. When I was working in Tokyo, I used to work 12-hour days, drink until the early morning hours, take a short nap, and then do it all over again. The picture on the left is of a drinking area (street) called Omoide-yokocho (思い出横丁, Memory Lane), and I used to come here for my second or third round of drinks with colleagues. There are yokochos all over Japan, and these streets are full of bars and restaurants to drink at. The picture on the right is of a standing wine bar, which serves beer, cocktails, and pupus. Standing bars are good when you want to have a few drinks before going to your next place.

Beer Tasting & Pupus

Japanese people love their beer! You can go to beer museums for short tours and beer tasting after the tours, like Brandon did (picture on the left). The merit of going to a beer museum is that you can try beers which aren’t sold in stores, and the price to sample is reasonable! However, unlike the Sapporo Beer Museum (picture on the left) where you can get three beers at once, other beer museums require you to finish one drink before you order your next one.

The picture on the right is of pan-fried gyoza with beer (of course!). Japanese food/drinking culture is similar to Hawaii because people in Japan like to pupu while having a cold beer, or whatever drink they like. This picture was taken by Brandon at a festival in Sapporo. For those who don’t know, festivals in Japan have many vendors which sell drinks and food. The best thing to do at festivals when you want food or a drink is to take a quick lap around the area, and then decide where to buy your food (not all at once though!).

Drinking in Public

 

Drinking in public is not illegal, unless certain areas (usually parks) have signs which prohibit drinking alcohol or you are belligerent and making trouble. During the summer, people like to drink at the beach (picture on the left), and during spring, people love drinking under the sakura (picture on the right).