Japan has a special kind of little bar. It’s often located in a space just big enough to fit a counter, 10 or so seats in front of it, the owner-bartender behind it, and some shelves behind them. They work hard serving drinks and snacks but even harder ensuring that everyone there is having a great time. They introduce patrons to one another, facilitate conversations, and sometimes engage the entire bar at once. I love these bars and my current strategy for having a lovely evening in a Japanese city is to find one with good reviews from travellers on Google Maps.

The one Luca and I went to in Nagoya that evening had probably the best atmosphere of any I’ve been to. The owner Taka was gregarious, warm and interesting. He told us his favourite place in Japan was Gamagori, and was delighted when we told him we’d been there on Monday. He played nice music, mixed tasty drinks and even showed us his guitar skills. We happily chatted with him and the other patrons in basic English and Japanese, and left with reluctance after 3 hours or so for the last train back to Okazaki.

The next weekend we went back to Nagoya with Alice. She’s too young to drink in Japan, so we didn’t go to Taka’s bar, but we did wander amiably around central Nagoya some more: as far north as Nagoya Castle (which was unfortunately barely glimpsable at night), and as far south as a trendy dessert spot in Yaba-cho. There was a Thai festival running in the southern part of Hisaya Odori Park (the nice park above Sakae station), but Alex and I ended up eating at a Hamburg steak restaurant instead. It was probably the best meal I’d had so far in Japan this trip – we ordered half Hamburg, half skirt steak and both were incredibly tender and juicy, served with some delicious condiments.

I’m falling behind on these blog posts a bit. When I started writing them, I usually wasn’t doing that much on the weekend, so I had time to spare. Now I’m a bit busier. But I’ll still try to catch up to the present.