http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33298 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33298 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23559
I've been to Fishbank for drinks and Izakaya En for dinner and both of them were very reasonably priced and food was very good. It's very close to Ginza and Tsukiji but the nearest station is "Shiodome" on Oedo line.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23559 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22822 There is a bar at the same floor (must be the highest in the city) with transparent walls and shelves, so you can go on enjoying the astounding view of Tokyo while drinking.
While you're there, look for the excellent views of the Tokyo Tower - the Japanese version of the Eiffel Tower. It's a classic Romantic view at night.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/22822 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19916 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19916 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19907 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19907 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19899 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19899 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17714 Tokyofoodie.com to decide on restaurants in Tokyo. Well-written and comprehensive articles by other food lovers are perfect there.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17714 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2812 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2812 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2777
Don't let the name put you off - this area has loads of small bars selling yakitori. Choose your own kebabs - chicken, tomatoes, fish, pork, etc and have them barbecued as you listen to the banter from the chefs and barmaids to the passing customers. Beer and lemon bitters to drink with the locals, bags of noise and atmosphere and very cheap!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2777 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2671
Go and walk around and choose your bar. You might get the one where film directors have their own bottles displayed around the bar.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2671 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1163 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1163 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/517 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/517 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2723
If you can find the subterranean entrance, the temple-like Tantra is a welcome retreat from the frantic pace of Tokyo life, making it a favourite of locals and foreigners in the know.

Descending down a narrow incense-filled stairway, guests are asked by staff to wait while a space is prepared. Customers will be seated in either the main bar area or in one of two smaller curtained alcoves.

Guests will find themselves reclining back on sumptuous floor cushions, soothed by soft ambient music. In the two alcoves, sectioned off with draped fabric, there are screens that play an endless stream of abstract images.

The bar is decorated with Tantric stone sculptures, panels and figures. A large Buddha’s head rests in the centre of the main room. Candles are the only source of light and feed the otherworldly atmosphere - a sanctuary from the madness above.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2723 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2679
It is vintage post-war Tokyo in all its cramped, chaotic glory. The bars - most of them big enough only for a counter and a dozen or so stools - are housed in buildings of wood and corrugated iron thrown up for hookers and pimps during the allied occupation.

Several decades have passed since Golden-gai was primarily a lure to the libido, but the narrow lanes have not entirely lost the feel of a red-light district. When business is slow and the air muggy, the silhouettes of mama-sans (some of whom are actually middle-aged men) can be seen in pink-lit doorways as they fan them selves and listen to scratchy records of Edith Piaf or experimental jazz.

In the 60s and 70s most of the brothel-keepers were replaced by counter-culture dropouts who turned the area into a hub of political conspiracy and intellectual foment. At its peak it attracted thinkers such as the author Yukio Mishima and the film-maker Nagisa Oshima.

Directors, painters and writers are still drawn to an area that refuses to make way for rampant materialism. Shadow, a bar run for more than 20 years by a communist, is decorated with items found in rubbish dumps. Jetee, owned by a former film distributor, includes Wim Wenders and Juliette Binoche among its occasional customers.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2679 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2662
Although sentos do not feature the ambience of a truly picturesque outdoor onsen, they make up for it in a perspiration-inducing array of hot pools, cold plunges, saunas, massage rooms and the counter-intuitive pleasures of underwater electrocution. When you're done, shave and preen yourself with complimentary toiletries, collapse in a massage chair, and order a bottle of Ebisu beer before you pass out. Incidentally, staying all night is allowed, what better reason to miss your last train out of Shinjuku...]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2662 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2640 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2640 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2629 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2629 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2603 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2603 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1166 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1166 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1070 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1070