Golden Gai

Tom and I have found the coolest bars in the whole of Tokyo. It's this small area of Shinjuku where there are three small, rickety streets of tiny bars, most of which can only hold about ten people max and would collapse in a second of a major earthquake. The area is called Golden Gai and you can read about it on the web. I think it was built after the war for lowlifes and prostitutes, but ended up being where all the philosophers and artists went and still do, apparently. I can't believe it's still here, and that it doesn't seem to have been overrun by celebrities or demolished for an office block . They all have their own weird little theme, which you can't really tell until you step in.

The bar Tom and I went into was covered in pirated CDs, mostly English, and posters to obscure 80s bands everywhere. All the punters were friends of the barman. According to what other people have written on the web, there are proportionately quite big cover charges and some total rip off bars, or ones that don't take foreigners, but I don't care. Emily and me are going there tonight! And I'm not going to any other bars anywhere else in Tokyo now.