Tokyo’s Kamiya Bar and one of its many characters

There’s a seemingly endless number of unique and interesting drinking spots in Tokyo, but even amongst such stellar company, Asakusa’s Kamiya Bar still manages to stand out.

Built in the late 1800s — becoming the capital’s first western-style bar — the boozer has lived up to its no-nonsense image by somehow surviving the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, and then the devastating bombing raids of World War II.

Yet despite this history, and the establishment’s staunchly working class attitude in a supposedly middle class society, what really makes Kamiya Bar special are its patrons — plus the practice of having to sit wherever, and with whoever, one can find a space. A system that makes for continually different experiences, with continually interesting characters.