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Food and Drinks
Lifestyle100 Top Tables

Ginza’s 7 best cocktail bars, from Punch Room at The Tokyo Edition to Bar High Five

Ginza may be renowned for its Wako department store and Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, but it also boasts some of the best cocktail bars in Asia

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Punch Room at The Tokyo Edition, Ginza, is one of numerous wonderful bars in the Japanese district. Photo: Handout
Douglas Parkes

Ginza is one of Tokyo’s most iconic neighbourhoods, recognised for its luxury stores, hotels and history, which lives on in monuments like the Wako department store and even the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line – Asia’s first underground railway.

Less well known is the fact that Ginza is hallowed ground for global cocktail culture. In the post-war era, a new style of Japanese bartending emerged here, one defined by attention to detail, flawless technique and an almost reverent approach to ingredients.
Today, that style inspires bartenders across the world, and a new generation of masters continues to shape global trends. If you’re in Tokyo and searching for a good drink, Ginza is the place to be, and these bars are the best of the best.

Punch Room

The menu at Punch Room offers an array of cocktails that utilise Japanese flavours and ingredients in harmonious and effective ways. Photo: The Tokyo Edition, Ginza
The menu at Punch Room offers an array of cocktails that utilise Japanese flavours and ingredients in harmonious and effective ways. Photo: The Tokyo Edition, Ginza
A worthy addition to this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, Punch Room offers a pleasantly relaxed alternative to the often uptight cocktail bars of Tokyo’s Ginza neighbourhood. On a weekend visit, the space buzzes with music and chatter, creating the perfect casual atmosphere for serious cocktails.
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The interior evokes a 19th-century London gentlemen’s club with dark walnut walls and plush velvet seating. As its name suggests, the bar specialises in punch, reinventing the traditional cocktail with Japanese spirits and flavours. Ingredients include everything from sakura and wasabi to daikon and togarashi, and are combined in harmonious – and wonderfully surprising – ways.

2/F, The Tokyo Edition, Ginza, 2−8−13 Ginza, Tokyo

Bar High Five

Hidetsugu Ueno, one of Japan’s most famous bartenders, at Bar High Five in Ginza. Photo: Mr Lyan’s Taste Trips
Hidetsugu Ueno, one of Japan’s most famous bartenders, at Bar High Five in Ginza. Photo: Mr Lyan’s Taste Trips
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