Drinking Japan: A Guide to Japan's Best Drinks and Drinking Establishments [Paperback]

Chris Bunting (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2011

Japan is home to some of the world's most interesting alcoholic beverages and to a phenomenally energetic bar scene. Drinking Japan is the first wide-ranging survey in English of the country's unique alcohol culture, with detailed coverage not only of the well-known rice brew sake but of much less explored traditions like shochu, awamori, beer, wine, and Japanese whisky. The book is a practical guide, offering richly illustrated reviews of 122 drinking establishments in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Hiroshima, Okinawa and further afield. The reviews are written with the newly arrived visitor to Japan in mind, with price guides, language help, advice on food and drink choices, and maps and directions to get you to the bars.  Drinking Japan offers detailed background on more than 150 of Japan's best drink brands and the people that make them. There is a long chapter on the history of sake and the contemporary sake world, and the first extensive descriptions in an English-language book of Japan's indigenous spirits, shochu and awamori. Whole chapters are devoted to Japan's whisky, craft beer and wine industries, offering insights that have until now not been available to readers in English.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ultimate guide to drinking in Japan." The Japan Times

"From sampling traditional awamori on Okinawa to roaming the legendary Susukino district in Sapporo, Drinking Japan is filled with a staggering amount of information ... (&) incredibly complete histories." Metropolis magazine

"There are many things to love about Japan, but its exceptional bars and drinking culture are among the things at the top of my list. Anyone with the same yen (heh) for Tokyo-and-beyond bars should check out "Drinking Japan: A Guide to Japan's Best Drinks and Drinking Establishments." Written by Chris Bunting after a year and a half of research (i.e., drinking his way across Japan) and published by Tuttle in April, the book combines a guide to Japanese spirits with reviews of the bars devoted to them." Los Angeles Times

"It is in Bunting's travelogue approach wherein we find Drinking Japan‘s greatest strengths. We journey with him from one bar to another, listening in on conversations with bartenders who proudly report on the provenance and aging of their prized liquors. We vicariously drink through Japan while nestled comfortably on a couch at home. Bunting does a fantastic job of putting each bar in context." LA Weekly

"An excellent guide for anyone interested in a drink." Japan Visitor

From the Author

Drinking Japan is written as a practical guide, but I hope it is also a fun read. There are loads of anecdotes covering all sorts of high-jinks through Japanese drinking history and lots of detail on the fascinating people who make the contemporary Japanese alcohol scene so special. The book is richly illustrated, and offers Japanese language support aimed at helping people who do not speak much Japanese to experience this fascinating drinking culture.

Please check out the video on my author page.

- Chris Bunting

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing; Vinyl Bound Paperback edition (April 10, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4805310545
• ISBN-13: 978-4805310540
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chris Bunting is a Tokyo-based journalist who has written for a variety of publications, including the London Times and the Independent. He currently works for a leading Japanese daily newspaper. He is a regular in bars in Tokyo's Shimbashi, Shibuya, Ebisu and Shinjuku drinking districts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars first review, April 15, 2011

By 

brian - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drinking Japan: A Guide to Japan's Best Drinks and Drinking Establishments (Paperback)

Length:: 2:16 Mins

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy of a toast, May 11, 2011

By 

Sean Miyaguchi "Maki Miyaguchi" (Brisbane) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Drinking Japan: A Guide to Japan's Best Drinks and Drinking Establishments (Paperback)

Thoroughly researched and attractively presented, Drinking Japan provides enough insights into the country's unique bar culture and beverages to establish it as a valuable reference both for newcomers and those more acquainted with the delights of Japanese liquor.

Delving into the history and traditions of the country's various brewed, distilled and fermented beverages, author Chris Bunting also highlights more than 120 standout examples from among Japan's countless superb licensed establishments.

Each chapter focuses on a major drink category - such as whisky, sake, shochu and Okinawan awamori - while listing bars specializing in it, complete with maps and directions from the nearest train stations. (Particularly useful in a country where rail is the primary mode of transport in major cities, and for readers who will likely be in no state to drive if putting the book to good use.)

Bar listings are conveniently arranged by location in the book's front inside cover, while listed alphabetically at the back. The majority of the featured bars are in and around Tokyo, however, there are several write-ups for bars in other areas popular with visitors such as Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima.

For visitors with little or no Japanese language ability, a section on useful words and phrases should make the Japanese bar experience much easier to navigate.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drink it Cover to Cover...., October 15, 2011

By 

Bengoshi (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drinking Japan: A Guide to Japan's Best Drinks and Drinking Establishments (Paperback)

Drinking Japan is a tour de force of everything in Japanese drinking. While there are great all Sake (nihonshu) guides out there, Chris Bunting vets everything to drink under the Rising Sun -- and how great it is. Not just a guide book, also a great read on the history of Japanese Sake, Shochu, beer, whisky etc. Even if you never get to Japan (poor you) it's worth a read for all that fascinating background and history.

The guide is spectacular as well. I read it on the plane back from Narita and am dying to go back to check out all the great places Bunting suggests. A bar run by a buddhist priest? Honto. An bar chiseled out of ice in Tokyo? Sugoi. I don't even drink whisky or beer much, preferring Sake and Sochu, but Bunting has wet my appetite to branch out and drink some more in the best place to drink in the world -- Japan. ''''''''''''''''''''''