WATCH Soccer, screens and drinks. <strong>The</strong> holy trinity of sports bars is alive and well in Tokyo with British and American pubs If you want to enjoy watching football, rugby and baseball games with likeminded sport fans, look no further than British-style pub, Hub 82, which has around 110 stores in Japan Get your fill of Americana at Hooters at several locations in Tokyo and watch a litany of sports at Dazn Circle in Shibuya or 99 Sports Bar in Minato City 90 THE RED BULLETIN
WATCH TASUICHI HUB+82 SHIBUYA PARCO BRANCH In a city where you could drink at a different bar every night and still never run out of options, it might seem strange that one of the most well-known and well-loved institutions is actually a chain of faux-British pubs called Hub. But there’s something inherently appealing about Hub’s kitschy take on British pub culture, both when it replicates it accurately (a range of perfectly poured pints) and also when it throws a cultural curveball, such as offering deep-fried spaghetti as one of its go-to beer snacks. And if you go often enough, you might even find yourself eligible for Hub’s coveted gold card, which is surely the coolest loyalty club in town. Address 150-8377 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Udagawacho 15−1, Shibuya PARCO B1F Website pub-hub.com FURTHER BRANCH: HUB SHIBUYA C<strong>EN</strong>TER-GAI BRANCH Address: 150-0042 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Udagawacho 22−2 SHIBUYA NISHIMURA SOUHONT<strong>EN</strong> BLDG. B1F A long-standing Shibuya staple, Tasuichi is a no-frills drinking establishment that has retained its patch of prime real estate on Center-Gai – the pedestrian shopping street that starts directly opposite the famous Shibuya Crossing – even as other shops have come and gone around it. <strong>The</strong> selection of drinks is fairly rudimentary, but considering a glass of nama-biiru (the Japanese phrase for ordering whatever draft beer happens to be on tap) is ridiculously cheap, and live sports shown on a number of TVs dotted around the room, it’s no surprise that this standing-only bar is almost always packed full to the brim, skewing particularly towards expats happy to embrace its deliberately rowdy nature. Address 150-0042 Tokyo, Shibuya City, Udagawacho 33-14 Website tasuichi.co.jp HOOTERS GINZA Although Hooters is known all over the world for scantily clad female staff, its Tokyo branches are far from raunchy when you compare them to the litany of strip bars scattered throughout the city. Instead, they offer a fun slice of Americana that extends to the food menu, which authentically replicates that of the chain’s motherland. And given the paltry number of chains offering American classics in Tokyo, when someone here says they want to go to Hooters just for the wings, they might actually be telling the truth. Address 104-0061 Tokyo, Chuo City, Ginza 8−5, GINZA NINE 1-2F Website hooters.co.jp THE RED BULLETIN 91