JAPAN Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka


khamy

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Hi BOTLS,

I'm heading to Japan in March and while googling has found a few bars/semi cigar lounges. Admittedly some of the websites are almost all in japanese script so not quite sure what is being offered.

Just wondered what fellow cigar loving gaijin's who have visited or live there recommend.

I'll be based in Tokyo and Kyoto for a week or so each so would be nice to take an hour or two to enjoy some chill time.

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Hi Kam,

I'm sure you'll love Japan! Personally I prefer Kyoto over Tokyo, Kyoto is a little bit more laid back and less busy than Tokyo. Here you can still smoke in lots of restaurants and bars!

But I would recommend to bring your own sticks, there is not that many places to buy 'Hamaki'. And usually they're quite expensive!

Most big 5 Star Hotels have a bar and small Humidor with a few sticks. I know the Hotel New Otani has a Davidoff Store that offers Habanos too. In the Hyatt in Ropongi you find a Cigar Shop on the ground floor. I think on Ropongi Dori, opposite the Main entrance to Ropongi Hills you'll find a Lounge and Shop from the oficial Habanos Importer PCC, think it's called Conoseur. In Omotesando you have a Lounge on Omotesando Dori between Omotesando Hills and Meiji Jin Gu Mae. It's down stairs and if I remeber correctly it's called Cohiba®.

Would be more than happy to show you around Tokyo for a bit but I'll leave in a few days for a long work trip...

Enjoy your time in Japan!

Leif

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Bring your own sticks Kam. As previously mentioned they are a bit pricey (although I wasn't fully into smoking cigars when I visited Japan so I'm not 100% sure on how much more expensive they are).

This bottleshop in tokyo is worth a visit: http://www.liquors-hasegawa.com/

It is in Japanese, so enlist the help of google translate.

They have quite the range of malts, and I think you can do samplings of their drinks for a small fee as well.

Just explore around and eat/drink all you can :).

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Yes i agree that it looks to be quite expensive and will only probably take about 3 to 5 cigars just on the off chance that time allows and the setting is right. Food is one of the big attractions to exploring these cities and i will probably even risk the infamous fugu if i can find it as well. Admittedly the cities will be a staging point for day trips out to other areas using the very expensive train pass.

Leif, if you are in Tokyo around the time i'm in town, certainly being shown around is a very generous offer and much appreciated if you do find time.

I'm in Japan between march 7-21 (haven't bedded down the itinery just yet).

Matt, Looking at the site, you can get peated peanuts lol! Only in Japan eh.

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Yes i agree that it looks to be quite expensive and will only probably take about 3 to 5 cigars just on the off chance that time allows and the setting is right. Food is one of the big attractions to exploring these cities and i will probably even risk the infamous fugu if i can find it as well. Admittedly the cities will be a staging point for day trips out to other areas using the very expensive train pass.

Leif, if you are in Tokyo around the time i'm in town, certainly being shown around is a very generous offer and much appreciated if you do find time.

I'm in Japan between march 7-21 (haven't bedded down the itinery just yet).

Matt, Looking at the site, you can get peated peanuts lol! Only in Japan eh.

Haha. I didn't have much time when I visited that place and really only got the chance to go in and buy a bottle I wanted before I left Japan.

I found fugu was cheaper in Osaka. I think try it just so you can tick it off, but the opinions of everyone I went with was that fugu was like a hard jellyfish that was flavourless. As part of the fugu dinner we had sashimi, deep fried fugu, a fugu hotpot and desert (I may have missed a course or two).

There's a place you can get whale in Tokyo (sorry to any animal conservationists). Go at lunchtime because the lunch box is much cheaper than dinner (around $50 aud vs $200 aud for dinner). You get less, which may be a good thing because not to everyone's taste. My partner could only finish 1/5th of her bento. I can't say that I will ever go out of my way to seek it out again.

There's a 120 year old tempura place in shinjuku that is freeking awesome. I'll try and dig up the details.

If you're interested Kam, pm me your email address and I'll send you my itinerary from a few years back.

I would go back in a heartbeat, after I tick of the US, Europe, Canada and last but not least Cuba (man that's a big list to try and get through zzz)

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Last time I was in Tokyo I stayed at a hotel in Ikebukuro, 5 minutes away from the train station. The great thing about the Yamanote line is that it stops at all the main districts; Akibahara, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, etc. Don't forget to download a Japanese phrase or travel app. Wish I had that the last time I was there, would have saved me a lot of trouble.

And while you're in Akibahara, visit the cuddle cafe, where you can pay to sleep with someone... and I really do mean sleep!!

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Fuzz, i wont be surprised if i walk into a maid cafe and they proclaim, ahhh Chris-san welcome back master...

cuddle cafe is a new one, i will have to google that.... much later and at home.

We also booked a hotel near the station - sun router hotel or something or other.

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When I was in Osaka, my wife and I stayed at the Dojima Hotel. It had a cigar lounge/whisky bar at the upper floors but the sticks are pricey. Bloody awesome selection of super and ultra premium Japanese whiskies though and scotches. Also they have a unique way of serving "neat on the rocks", one massive globe of ice in the glass to prevent excessive melting and dilution of the spirit.

A couple of doors away from the hotel is a building that houses the Suntory office with a well stocked tasting bar at the ground floor. You can have a tasting flight for a fee or just order samplers. I did both and walked out a little tipsy. :lol:

You can also buy bottles from there but it's cheaper to get them duty free from the Kansai airport when you leave Osaka. The duty free stock is plentiful plus they have ***** branded whiskies too. The Suntory outlet does have some special releases though which you can't get from the airport. Lookout for the Yamazaki Cask releases, in particular the Sherry Cask. These are a special release and are hard to get. For the regular releases, my favourite of the Suntory whiskies is the Hakushu 18 Year Old. However I actually like the ***** whiskies more, especially the Taketsuru 17 Year Old and 21 Year Old.

One of the shopping centres in the Osaka Central Business District (can't remember if it was of the Takashimaya or Daimaru chain) has a Bluebell cigar outlet which stocks Cubans and Non-Cubans (HTF, limiteds, etc.). Incidentally, Bluebell is the main distributor of Habanos for Japan but I think they get their stock from the regional distributor which is Pacific Cigars so expect the Asia-Pacific regional releases. Cigars are not particularly cheap in Japan and I brought my own when I was there and buying a few loose sticks.

Cigars are not particularly popular in Kyoto as I don't recall seeing any cigar outlets or lounges/bars there but you can get imCorona brand of cigar accessories in the big shopping centres. One of the best cigar accessory brands, comparable to ST Dupont, in my opinion. Incidentally the Kyoto Central Business District is a smoke free zone, so no public smoking. Smoking indoors in restaurants, coffee shops and bars operating in the smoke free zone is allowed though, go figure.

When in Kyoto make sure to sample sake in the many sake bars around. Even a whisky and cognac drinker like myself can really appreciate the delicate and subtle richness of a good Japanese sake. Key words when ordering good sake: "nihonsu" which means "Japanese sake" in the "junmai ginjo" grade. If you have a bit more to spend ask for "junmai daiginjo" grade and be enchanted. :D Hint: no point going for "shochu" which is the Korean style rice wine.

You can usually smoke indoors in most bars and restaurants in Japan however I will recommend against lighting a cigar in a restaurant as the strong aroma may disturb other fellow diners. Not that anyone will complain as they are all so polite but the general politeness will rub off on you and you will tend to make a conscious effort to be considerate. Trust me. :D

One last thing: Japanese beer, excellent stuff in general but the stand out for me was the local Suntory All Malt.

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Hi Kam,

Sorry mate, I won't be around in March. Will head to Europe in a week and then all across south east Asia for all of March. Only back in Japan to pick up the wife n son in April for some holidays in Germany!

I can only second Sengjc's post, go ahead and enjoy some Japanese Sake and Whisky, nice stuff over here! I love the Taketsuru, Yamazaki and ***** from the Barrel!

Have fun, enjoy your time in my second "home country"!

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Thanks Sengjc,

You have given me some ideas to research on further, as a whisky drinker as well, i do enjoy on the odd occasion the more subtle flavors in sake.

Thanks Leif as well for your brief on your second home, shame our schedules could not coincide this time.

I've been researching and i think we (wife) will be trying lots of interesting foods, stay in a ryokan, visit a few onsen's, enjoy the cherry blossoms, disney land (the sea version), catch a baseball and sumo match and of course all the shopping and soak in the sub cultures (anime, harajuku... )

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I live in Japan so I thought I'd answer your question to Leif.

No worries what so ever about bring cigars into Japan, you're allowed up to 100 cigars duty free; actual law is 100 cigars or 400 cigarettes, or if a mixture of the two then 500 grams total weight.

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thank you sir, that is very good to hear of a decent allowance into a country for once, i certainly won't have any issues.

If you're taking 100 cigars, you'd better smoke 95 of them before coming home! From what I've been told, Customs doesn't really care if you bought the cigars here and already paid duty on them. If you're carrying them, they can tax you if you're over the duty free limit.

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if i took a hundred cigars, i might as well stay home on the balcony and not have a holiday at all..

then again, might be very popular man among the local FOH community there.

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Hi Kam, as it's already been answered, a 100 cigars is your duty free limit. I usually use my full limet to stock up my pile here at home in order to spread out my stock between Germany and Japan. But I've actually never been checked by customs on smokes. At the moment they're more keen on food. Similar to Australia, no meat or cheese etc allowed to be taken into the country.

Again, enjoy your time in Japan!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Bring your own sticks Kam. As previously mentioned they are a bit pricey (although I wasn't fully into smoking cigars when I visited Japan so I'm not 100% sure on how much more expensive they are).

This bottleshop in tokyo is worth a visit: http://www.liquors-hasegawa.com/

It is in Japanese, so enlist the help of google translate.

They have quite the range of malts, and I think you can do samplings of their drinks for a small fee as well.

Just explore around and eat/drink all you can smile.png.

Dude, do you have the address of this place, can't find it on the website cause its all in japanese

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Kam, it is in the Yaesu Undergruond shopping centre. Go to the Tokyo JR station and look for the Yaesu exit.

Tokyo Station North Exit, Yaesu 2-1, Yaesu Underground Shopping Naka #3 Chuo-ku; 81-3/3271-8747

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