Just one night at the Beatles Bar in Shinagawa and you'll be addicted....... you'll be wanting to go back again and again.
In a tiny little room very near to the Shinagawa station you can find this very unobtrusive venue. There is nothing remarkable about the location at all and it would be very easy to overlook. Bek and Paul became addicted and Steve has returned often with various work and personal friends. To date I have only been a couple of times as I have either been the designated nanny or away.
You pay 2000 yen to get in with drinks on top. Patrons can purchase a bottle of whisky which the host, Oshima, clearly labels. The bottle is stored on a shelf over the bar and taken down upon return visits. Naturally once it's depleted you replace it. Due to a typical 'lost in translation' mistake the first bottle Steve had purchased was amusingly labelled 'Stephen and Lewis'. Somewhere along the line Paul and Canadian Steve finished off the 'Stephen and Lewis' bottle but duly replaced it for the next visit. It has now been replaced quite a few times. Even though whisky can be bought incredibly cheaply in Japan you do pay 'top yen' for it at the Beatles Bar.
The host of the bar is a very funny guy. He is very humourous and to prove it he proudly pokes his finger through his glasses to show there is no lens.......... 'Just for looks!'
You are never quite sure what sort of music you'll get but it's all good. One night Paul even did a song or two! People crowd around the musician and simply listen or converse with other patrons.
On one visit there were six in our group; Moses, Steve and Sandy, Marion and Steve and I. We started the evening with a meal in a Japanese restaurant. You should have heard the complaints when we had to sit cross legged. There isn't actually much room in the eating spaces and if you are tall it's hard to find a space for the extra leg length.
As the Beatles Bar occupies a very small space and up to forty people often squeeze in, it can be very squashy and 'up close and personal'. We make sure we get there early enough to secure a spot. By the end of the night the tables and seats have been constantly moved around to accommodate everyone. One very friendly Japanese gentleman had been staring from across the room and finally took up residence next to me. I was happy to move next to Moses as things got a bit close. It is fun though, and yelling over the music makes for even more 'Lost in Translation' experiences than normal. The music is fantastic and the general ambiance of the place is so friendly and Japanese. No loud, anti social displays just respectful, enjoyable appreciation of excellent talent/s.
You can be sure it won't be an early night after any visit to the Beatles Bar. We were lucky to catch the last trains. We couldn't physically fit on one train leaving from Shinagawa so had to wait for the next one, then we caught the absolutely last train from Sakuragicho. On an earlier visit (when I was home in Australia) Steve and Moses had to walk from Yokohama because there were no connecting trains till the morning and then Steve borrowed Mose's bike to get home from Sakuragicho to Ishikawacho. He arrived home at 4am. Shame!!
On our most recent visit we had a group of eight, all team project people. We once again started with a traditional Japanese meal in a nearby restaurant. The food was very nice, particularly the tempura prawns, and of course, there were plenty of beers and wines to go with the sashimi.
'What a lucky man!'......Steve had two lovely ladies entertaining him.
Recovering from an irritation Moses looks just a little bit 'too cool for school' in his sunnies.
After the meal we relocated to the Beatles Bar where the entertainment was brilliant. The guitarist and vocalist were excellent. They asked for requests and we kept a constant supply up to them. There was not one request they didn't play. It was a fantastic night and after lots of singing out loud, playing supplied percussion instruments and too much whisky we all travelled home on the last, overcrowded trains. As the trains were so tightly packed we didn't even need to worry about falling over!!
Be prepared to (maybe) have too many drinks, go home smelling of cigarette smoke and have ringing ears for the next few days!! You'll never know if you don't have a go....
