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/19916 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19916 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19915 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19915 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19912 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19912 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/10419
It's the choicest blend of beer, bar snacks, party games and singing lavatory available in Tokyo, though definitely not recommended for the overly self conscious.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10419 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10418
It's the choicest blend of beer, bar snacks, party games and singing lavatory available in Tokyo, though definitely not recommended for the overly self-conscious.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10418 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2771
In Tokyo try the insanely kitsch and colourful Shidax Village Club in Shibuya. This massive complex has 130 private rooms spread over six floors of fun. Prices start at 544 yen for 30 minutes but forget that as soon as you read it. Order the 2 hour, all-you-can-drink version for 4200 yen per person. You get to pick up the phone, dial 11, and order the beers. They show up within five minutes. Best with a group, as you might expect.
Your only regret? Missing out on my powerful, soulful renditions of Surfin’ USA, Roxanne and my piéce de la resistance: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. You'll just have to learn to live with that.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2771 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2677 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2677 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/2772
At the door you can choose between the sushi half of the place or the kushiyaki (skewers) and soba (noodles) half. The soba noodles are made from buckwheat ground daily on the premises. A massive food experience with traditional and yet modern Japanese fare. Skewers of foie gras with balsamico and strawberries? Unbelievable.
We tried the sushi half another night and were bowled over by the quality of the dishes and the æsthetic presentation.

Gonpachi is buried at the back of the G-Zone dining complex. After you enter just keep on walking down the halls. No, not that restaurant, keep going. All the way to the back. Well worth a visit.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2772 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/2649 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2649