The hospitality industry has had to bear the brunt of Japan’s Covid-19 emergency protocols, which included shortened business hours and a ban on serving alcoholic beverages at restaurants and bars. Nevertheless, our local watering holes demonstrated profound measures of spirit and perseverance in the face of the pandemic and shine brighter than ever now that restrictions have been eased.
To herald the resurgence of bar culture as the world gradually recovers from the Covid-19 outbreak, Asia’s 50 Best Bars hosted its first in-person award ceremony in three years. And we’re delighted to see six of Japan’s bars on the list, four of which are in Tokyo.
Hiroyasu Kayama’s apothecary-like Bar Benfiddich in Shinjuku, Tokyo was named the best bar in Japan and the fifth best bar in Asia. It also came away with the Rémy Martin Legend of the List award.
The next bar to be featured from Japan was Lamp Bar in Nara, which made an impressive jump from its place at No 62 on last year’s list to No 20 this year. Right behind Lamp Bar, The SG Club (one of two Tokyo bars to make the World’s 50 Best Bars list in 2021) was ranked as No 22 in Asia.
50 Best regular Bar Trench in Ebisu returned to the list this year as No 25 and was followed by another Tokyo bar, Memento Mori, which climbed its way up from 99th place on last year's list to a respectable No 41 for 2022. Finally, the sixth bar to be featured from Japan was Kyoto’s Bee's Knees (at No 47) – an unsurprising feat as it has been included in the past three editions of Asia’s 50 Best Bars.
For the full list of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2022, check the official site.
More from Time Out
Survey: tell us what living in Tokyo is really like for you
Tokyo to remove all rubbish bins from train and metro stations
The new Immersive Museum is turning Monet's Water Lilies into digital art installations
5 best Japanese films and series coming to Netflix in May 2022
‘My Small Land’ is a coming-of-age drama about asylum seekers in Japan
Want to be the first to know what’s cool in Tokyo? Sign up to our newsletter for the latest updates from Tokyo and Japan.