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We've compiled the best of the best in Shinjuku - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Many great gay nights out begin at this welcoming street-corner bar, which is hard to miss because of its torii shrine gate and all the patrons spilling out onto the street. This is the perfect place to put back a few cocktails, meet new people, and get a feeling for where to go next. The crowd is mixed, with locals and visitors mingling for hours or just meeting up for a quick drink.
Cheap and cheesy, Arty Farty is hit or miss. It's a good spot to go with a group of friends to kind of take over the place. Or it might be a nice spot for single travelers to find a group of like-minded folks. Be ready to pay to get in, though this cover charge does include a drink.
An eclectic clientele is drawn to this tiny, artsy bar decorated with gilt-framed paintings, deer heads, and numerous chandeliers. Luckily, its sign will light your way in Golden-Gai's tiny alleys.
This venerable bar claims to be Shinjuku's oldest—established in 1951—and has hosted actors and filmmakers like Yukio Mishima and Akira Kurosawa among many other luminaries. It's also one of several bars that claim to have invented the popular chu-hai cocktail (shochu, a distilled grain spirit, with juice and soda). The atmosphere is vibrant, the four floors are almost always packed, and food is served. There is a small outdoor seating area, but keep in mind that smoking is allowed in some areas.
Claiming to be the one of the friendliest bars in the neighborhood, GB has been a fixture in the Ni-chome gay district for decades. On weekends, rather quiet and reserved gentlemen, mostly in their thirties and forties, gather around the wooden bar, and it is also quite popular among foreign residents and visitors—especially before a night out.
With vintage lamps and a café-like ambience, this is a relaxed, cozy bar for women. Men accompanied by women are welcome on most days, but Saturday is a women-only night. The location on a lively corner in the center of the Ni-chome LGBTQ+ area makes it another good starting point for a night out. It also hosts events that you might want to stay for.
Covered in Euro-cinema posters and named after a French movie, La Jetée is a tiny bar, which makes conversing (in Japanese, French, or English) a challenge. To find it, look for the he cats painted on the door, and head up the narrow staircase. If you can't find it, Golden Gai has hundreds of other equally quirky and hard-to-find places you might stumble upon.
