La Jetée in Golden Gai, Shinjuku

This is a very short clip of the inside of one of the izakayas in the Golden Gai area of Shinjuku called La Jetée. As someone who is a vegan and does not drink alcohol, it is very difficult for me to get an opportunity to come to a place like this, but I am nevertheless fascinated with very small, unique establishments such as the one you see here. As I understand it, some of the bars in the Golden Gai district can be difficult to get into if you are a foreigner and not a regular or do not speak Japanese, but this one was an exception. The owner speaks a bit of English and is also fluent in French, much to the delight of my French speaking friend who accompanied me.

One thing I find incredible in Tokyo is the sheer amount of these small, unique bars and izakayas. Though, for reasons mentioned above, I don’t often visit them, I live in Shimokitazawa where there is a high concentration of them, and as such, I look in the windows and see inside them quite often. I have never seen places dripping with such unbelievable amounts of perfectly thought out and crafted atmosphere as I have seen in Japan. A single back alley bar in the middle of some unassuming place in Tokyo can have more authentically amazing atmosphere than the most expensive bars and restaurants in America. I could easily see someone becoming addicted to seeking these places out and visiting them all, and though that certainly won’t ever be me, I can appreciate them from a distance nonetheless.