The letter

One letter a week, in your inbox.

The week in Japan: what opened, where to go this weekend, and the editor's route. No tracking, no ads, nothing else.

We keep your address, your language and the date you joined, nothing else. Every letter has a one-click unsubscribe link that deletes the record.

← Day by Day Japan   Editor’s notes
00the route
Route

Shibuya after dark: two standing bars and a basement

September 25, 2026Sora Nakamura

An evening within a short walk of Shibuya station: a doughnut to start, Chinese food standing up from four o'clock, the standing bar that kept the old Fujiya Honten's menu, and a basement izakaya to sit down in at the end. Order small at each.

The prices are the ones Hanako printed, with the date of each article. The Chinese standing bar closes on Wednesdays and the Fujiya bar on irregular days; the rest are open every day.

Where
Tokyo
How long
1 day
Stops
4
Distance
2 km · 1.5 km on foot
On the clock
about 5 h
Pace
fast
Season
all
Mood
night · friends · first-time

Times are the editor’s plan, not a timetable. ≈ marks our own rough estimate; check the train times before you go.

01what it costs
Day 1¥12,964–¥12,997≈ $82 / €72fares ¥0 · places ¥12,964–¥12,997
Priced so far¥12,964–¥12,997≈ $82 / €72midCovers 4 of 4 stops and the trains · no hotel on this route

Per person, one adult. Each place’s figure is what its source printed, and the stop names the source and the date; the fares are the operators’ own published figures. Meals and rides with no printed figure are not in the total, and a figure printed more than a year ago says so. Converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2026-09-24, not a bank rate.

02the day
  1. I’m donut?

    The shop that started the queue for raw doughnuts. Hanako printed pistachio at ¥497 and raspberry at ¥464.

    渋谷区 · Hanako · 30 min¥464–¥497per personas printed by Hanako January 14, 2024 · may have changed

    Hours11:00–20:00; open every day · Hanako, Jan 2024 · may have changed

    The place →Open in maps ↗
  2. Walk≈17 min · 1.0 km
  3. 立食 型破離

    Chinese food eaten standing, from four in the afternoon on Dogenzaka. Hanako's picks: napolitan with house chili oil and Chinese greens at ¥990, prawns with nut mayonnaise at ¥890, warm Taketsuru sake at ¥1,200 a go.

    渋谷区 · Hanako · 60 min¥4,500per personas printed by Hanako August 14, 2025 · may have changed

    Hours16:00–22:30 (last order); closed Wednesdays · Hanako, Aug 2025 · may have changed

    The place →Open in maps ↗

    Plan BClosed on Wednesdays: go straight on to the next stop.

  4. Walk≈5 min · 0.3 km
  5. 立呑 富士屋本店

    The standing bar whose menu keeps the favourites of the old Fujiya Honten: a sardine and seaweed roll at ¥850, an Unzen ham cutlet at ¥600, a medium bottle of Sapporo Red Star at ¥550. No reservations.

    渋谷区 · Hanako · 60 min¥3,000per personas printed by Hanako August 14, 2025 · may have changed

    Hours17:00–21:30 last order (Saturdays 16:00–21:00, Sundays 16:00–20:00); closes on irregular days · Hanako, Aug 2025 · may have changed

    The place →Open in maps ↗
  6. Walk≈4 min · 0.2 km
  7. しぶやきんぼし

    A basement izakaya on Dogenzaka to sit down in. Hanako's picks: pork and vegetable shabu-shabu at ¥1,890 a person, six vegetables at ¥1,580, a Tsunashima sour at ¥600.

    渋谷区 · Hanako · 90 min¥5,000per personas printed by Hanako December 15, 2024 · may have changed

    Hours17:00 (16:00 on weekends and holidays) to 23:30; open every day · Hanako, Dec 2024 · may have changed

    The place →Open in maps ↗
04if it rains, or it is shut
  1. 2. 立食 型破離

    Closed on Wednesdays: go straight on to the next stop.

05music for the way
Music for the way
For the nightOpen in Spotify ↗
For the tableOpen in Spotify ↗
06the editor

Sora Nakamura was born in Kanazawa, grew up between a fish market and a grandmother's kitchen, and spent her twenties cooking in Tokyo, Lyon and Melbourne before she put down the knife to write. Back in Tokyo since 2019, she keeps a spreadsheet of every place she has eaten at since 2011 and a bicycle she rides to most of them. She writes routes, not rankings, and believes the best restaurant in any town is the one that has been open long enough to have a regular who died there.