It just so happens...

I've managed to become a regular at a local Tokyo bar.  I didn't really plan it that way; I just kept going back there because I love the atmosphere.

Let me tell you about Japan bars.  You sit at a table.  You are corralled into your little space and people rarely branch out and talk with others.  The bar atmosphere in Japan isn't like that of America which promotes interaction with those you didn't arrive with.  The 居酒屋 is even worse.  You are often closed off by a screen or a partition and no one interacts with those outside his or her party.  These things make it terribly difficult to meet people.  If you want a bar like an American bar you have to look for what's called a "standing bar."  They are dotted throughout Tokyo.  Just do a Google search.

One night my friend Dan the Man took Nate the Great and me to one such standing bar.  I liked it so much that I went back.  And then I went back again.  And then again.  And again until the owner recognized me and the staff started to recognize me and then the regulars started to recognize me.  Unintentionally, I suppose I also became a regular.  I actually lost count of how many times I've been there.

I've not met the man of my dreams at this place.  At this bar I have met plenty of guys who don't want to make time for me.  On the flip side, I have made some dear dear female friends because of this place and I love them to death.  Each time I go I meet more and more wonderful people.

Here's a picture of the place.  Do you recognize it?

So here's to Tokyo's standing bars!  I don't need your stinking tables!