Nonbei Yokocho (Drunkard's Alley)

Nonbei Yokocho, whose name translates cheerfully as Drunkard's Alley, is a tiny two-lane cluster of around 40 minuscule bars tucked beside the railway tracks on the northeast edge of Shibuya Station. Surrounded by some of the most frenetic, modern and neon-drenched streets in Tokyo, this pocket of hand-built wooden shacks is a nostalgic time capsule, a reminder of the intimate, ramshackle Shibuya that existed long before the glass towers and giant video screens arrived.

The alley dates back to the early 1950s, when it grew up in the postwar years as a strip of tiny drinking dens beside the tracks. Remarkably, it has survived every wave of Shibuya's relentless redevelopment, standing today in the shadow of gleaming new complexes and directly beside the redeveloped Miyashita Park. The two narrow lanes are lined with small two-storey buildings, their ground and upper floors each home to a bar barely wide enough for a counter and a row of stools.

The bars here are even smaller and more personal than those of the more famous Golden Gai across town, many seating only four or five drinkers at a time. Each has its own character and speciality: some pour craft cocktails or natural wine, others focus on shochu, sake or a particular style of music, and several serve simple, excellent food, from yakitori and oden to more adventurous small plates. The tight quarters make for an unavoidably sociable evening, often in the company of the owner, a few regulars and whichever curious travellers have found their way in.

Because every seat is precious, most bars levy a small cover charge, or otoshi, sometimes with a token snack, and this is a place for a drink or two at a counter rather than a rowdy night out. In the past the alley had a reputation for being closed to outsiders, but today a good number of its bars actively welcome foreign visitors, displaying English menus, welcome flags or friendly signs in the window; these are the easiest places to start.

The alley is at its most magical after dark, when paper lanterns and warm bulbs glow against the tangle of signage and the trains rumble past overhead. It offers a strikingly different mood to the crowds pouring across the nearby Shibuya Scramble Crossing, an intimate, low-lit refuge only a few minutes' walk away. Photographers are drawn to its retro atmosphere, though it is courteous to ask before shooting inside the bars.

Nonbei Yokocho is free to wander and requires no plan; the pleasure is in strolling its two short lanes, choosing a bar that appeals and squeezing in for a drink. It sits just three minutes from Shibuya Station's famous Hachiko exit, on the JR Yamanote Line covered by the Japan Rail Pass, and directly beside the Miyashita Park rooftop complex, making it an easy and atmospheric add-on to an evening in Shibuya. Bring cash, keep groups small, and enjoy one of central Tokyo's last surviving slivers of old Showa nightlife.