I was in Japan up until a few days ago exploring Tokyo by myself. After I arrived I had discovered my Airbnb was literally a street up from Nichome. This was my first solo trip and nights can be kinda lonely when travelling alone. I plucked up the courage, took myself out of my comfort zone and explored the area of a night. As a bear I'm never quite sure where I'm welcome when it comes to gay bars - but I felt so comfortable in Eagle and Eagle Blue. I also received more 'attention' than I ever have in my life at a bar lol
Hey guys, have been getting a lot messages about you guys visiting Japan. So we decided to give you guys a cute tour of Shinjuku Nichome and our favroite bars! See you all at one of them
I've been waiting for three years now, planning on arriving in Tokyo this September! In my own self interest, here's a video request: Besides Andrew's bed, where are the most economical places to stay? Would you recommend Nichome itself for lodging or are there areas that are way cheaper (also looking forward to using the metro system, of course, so don't mind a commute). Pod hotel? Couch surfing? I love your regular content, but a little touristy thing every once in a while is greatly appreciated!
Gonna be there at the end of next month! SUPER stoked!!! SO hope to possibly run into you both at a bar or on the street 🤗. Thanks as always for your fun and entertaining videos.
You should totally do once or twice a year guided tours for the gays, lez, they and them. People have to do their own hotels, flights. But you guys ferry people. X
I loved, loved, loved this episode. Now I have an idea of where everything is located, and a thing like the 7-eleven meeting spot is something that is impossible to know when you come as a tourist. Great work guys!
16:05 The bar called Bridge, above Onnanoko Club, is a chill spot for grown-ups who are into movies. Also, at a well-established club called New Sazae, you can dance to nostalgic disco music from the 80s.😂 My favorite bar is of course Tac's Knot.🎉
OMG, New Sazae still exists? I went there when I lived in Japan in the 80s. I'm totally gonna check it out when I arrive for the blossoms later this month. Oh, and Tac's Knot was a fave of me and my bf Hiroshi back then. I have photos of us getting quite, uh, plastered there.
As a younger person in his 20s going to Japan this summer, thanks so much for making this video 😭😭 I'll be puking in the same garage space outside arty 🙈
This video came out at a perfect time for me! My best friend and I are going to be in Tokyo, staying in Shinjuku and as first times, this has given me lot to great ideas. Thanks boys!
Thank you Meng and Andrew for putting this together. I have been coming to Japan for about a year from California without knowing where to go and this video has been very resourceful. I appreciate the work you two put into it.
As always you guys keep pumping out good content and I love seeing all the bars. I just read the titan’s bride and made me realise that I’m bisexual that leans in to guys more now.
I enjoy your videos! I have never been to Japan, but I feel like I'm getting a little slice of life with your videos. Not only touring the bars and such but also seeing how life operates in Tokyo. I feel like I have a personal tour guide to the city. Thank you!
In my first night in Japan on Monday, I went to Nichome and Aiirow and bumped into Don and ended up in a gay bar that welcomed me given I spoke no Japanese. Then I had to be up at 5am to get to FujiQ in time. Rollercoasters hungover was an experience. Got to thank you two for all your content through the years that equipped me to enjoy the gay side of Japan :3
Randomly stumbled on your video! You two are soooo cute! I've never been to japan but you two have inspired me to come! 🎉🎉🎉 Keep up the positive vibes and sharing your beautiful lives!❤️
Your timing is incredible, I needed this in-depth tour because I’m doing a solo trip to Tokyo in May for my 21st Birthday, definitely such a huge help with planning, thanks guys!
When I compare the two main gay in Japan channels, which are Tokyo BTM and the xtra one, I really prefer you two guys! your content is really nice, and mature. Very interesting and insightefull with the right amount of fun and love! Maybe it's because in I relate to you two more, as we are around the same age and that you lead similar lives to me. I wish you would share more about your day to day lives, but I know and agree that sharing too much private stuff isn't good! But I am really a fan and I adore your content.
Still say you guys should visit Cafe Lavanderia (the one directly across Goldfinger with the antifascist flag) they're very LGBTQ+ friendly even if they don't explicitly say it, plus I've lost count of how many people at least peaked on the inside and weren't at least mildly curious about it. Also, they have a free toilet, host events (typically free with a donations being accepted), the drinks are cheap (the Zapatista coffee in particular is cool; you can choose how much you want to pay for it) and alcohol is reasonably priced. Also, if you thought Tac's Knot talked about politics, they've got nothing on Lavanderia; the place is ran by anarchists, they've had fundraiser events for various social issues and was a meeting spot in the past for labor union organizers. Heck, Noam Chomsky actually visited there and signed the wall.
Thank you for your tour. I’ve been to Aiiro Cafe in 2019. You’re right it’s a good bar to meet people. I hope to go to Aiiro in fall 2023 on my next visit to Japan.
I wish this video came out a little sooner! I just went to Tokyo and wandered around Nichome and struggled to find where to go.. I ended up going to Dragon Men which was great for dancing but I personally found the music terrible so I ended up at Eagle Blue which happened to have a kpop night called Kkisuni and that was super fun but very cramped
Thanks for this! Im planning on going to Japan for the first time in may so super helpful. Also would love for video on the more......'adult' bar/spaces haha. Best ones and especially ones that are foreigner friendly would be helpful!
This was a really useful video. When we went to Tokyo we had bought one of those guide books and it had an LGBTQ+ section and mentioned a few of these bars... I specifically remember Airo Cafe and Eagle. We just went to a few they recommended and sort of went from there. The 7/11 tip is especially good. In the US we generally pre-game at home before we go out because localities generally don't allow public drinking here, so when we were in Tokyo we went to a 7/11 or Family Mart near out hotel and pre-gamed in our room. Only when we got to Shinjuku-Nichome did we realize, because 7/11 is one of the first places you sort of come across. We were poor tourists so we had another drink there as well and then by that point three chuhais in we only had like one or two drinks at each bar, which saved us money.
I believe I saw you Andrew at Dragon Men two weeks ago at the 3am go go boy show ..too crowded to say hi though!! So much fun! Omg the 7-11 is definitely busy and overflowing with people... On an aside note, how long have you and Meng studied the Japanese language/how long have you both been in Japan? I am so impressed by your command of the language (from a very casual Japanese language learner!)
I really liked having a tour through the area, even if I'll probably never be there, nice job! I realize this is a very US-centric view (though to be fair I have the same complaints about a ton of queer spaces in the US), but it's disappointing to see so many places with a single step going in. So close to being super accessible and inclusive, but so far! But that's not on you guys of course (though it'd be cool to highlight accessible places for folks in/visiting Japan!). Keep up the amazing work, it's so cool to see different queer spaces around the world, in Japan, and how things are in other places. 🖤
I used to live like 3 mins walk away from ni chome and I miss just walking around the streets. Even if not for hook up but the vibe is really fun in ni chome.
i was in tokyo in early jan, and came here just for a quick visit, though i left without doing anything because i felt super out of place haha (i was alone and ive never done anything remotely nightlife-y in my life lol...) i remember seeing a lot of these places though, and maybe im not ready for it yet, but hopefully i can get comfortable enough to enter one of them next time i visit :) the aiiro rainbow torii is iconic fr tho
Dear Gents... Thank you for the lovely vids - I love it. I always wanted to come visit Japan, but a friend who visited there recently said that it is not really gay-friendly. Can you please perhaps make a video on that? Not sure...
Does 2-Chome have any daytime activity? (Other than the coffee place you visited)? Shopping, brunch, lunch…? Or is that not part of gay/queer culture in Tokyo?
Nichome is a nightlife town, but it is still part of Shinjuku. Shinjuku is the busiest station in Japan. It has countless options for shopping, dining and entertainment.
So much useful and informative. Thank you guys for giving us a tour. Wish that there was a channel like this for gay people, especially gay foreigners in Korea. Anyone might give me some suggestions?
Thank you for the tour, it was really interesting, and quite a few places to visit, Cute Japanese guys at the end... One thing i did notice opposite Kusuo was some graffiti which surprised me, I thought Japan was strict on regulations..
Have you made a video about Ryousuke Nanasaki? I read "BOKU GA OTTO NI DEAU MADE", the manga and the novel about his life, both were even published in Germany.
I used to live in Japan and went to Nichome for the first time last December. I felt so lost bc I was looking for areas like Wellesley in Toronto lol. I was surprised the area itself in general just looked normal lol
Great video! Got a question, tough. How wheelchair accessible are these places? I'm a gay man in a power wheelchair. I would love to check these places out when I come to Tokyo.
Andrew & Meng have such great chemistry together. Fans may agree, "we" should ship them together!! Just saying!! Please Andrew & Meng, marry each other like now! Right now! Don't pass go, just go and get married to each other!! Or, get into a throuple?!! Triple the income and the bedroom exercises will never be boring!! Right?! Andrew & Meng have insane chemistry. They need to be lifelong partners forever, husband & husband.
What time do people generally start and end the night in nichome? Where I’m from in Melbourne we start at 11pm and go until around 4am and get an Uber home. but it sounds like a lot of people in Tokyo finish the night around the last train? Thanks for this video! It’s so so useful
Since the Snack Bars are so small are they always packed on the weekends? Any particular etiquette when waiting? Or do you just move on to a different bar?
I was in Japan up until a few days ago exploring Tokyo by myself. After I arrived I had discovered my Airbnb was literally a street up from Nichome. This was my first solo trip and nights can be kinda lonely when travelling alone. I plucked up the courage, took myself out of my comfort zone and explored the area of a night. As a bear I'm never quite sure where I'm welcome when it comes to gay bars - but I felt so comfortable in Eagle and Eagle Blue. I also received more 'attention' than I ever have in my life at a bar lol
Also this literally made me nostalgic for literally a week ago :( I've got more tickets booked for July and I seriously can't wait. Take me back
@@billybotany so glad to hear that you had a great trip, and will come back again
Hey guys, have been getting a lot messages about you guys visiting Japan. So we decided to give you guys a cute tour of Shinjuku Nichome and our favroite bars! See you all at one of them
Yay! A new video!
I've been waiting for three years now, planning on arriving in Tokyo this September!
In my own self interest, here's a video request: Besides Andrew's bed, where are the most economical places to stay? Would you recommend Nichome itself for lodging or are there areas that are way cheaper (also looking forward to using the metro system, of course, so don't mind a commute). Pod hotel? Couch surfing?
I love your regular content, but a little touristy thing every once in a while is greatly appreciated!
Gonna be there at the end of next month! SUPER stoked!!! SO hope to possibly run into you both at a bar or on the street 🤗. Thanks as always for your fun and entertaining videos.
HUGE fan of Bar Tiger btw! Ranko and Miss Anaconda are the BEST!!!
Hey guys, only just found you randomly and subbed. Great vlog and a nice look at your village venues. Much more diverse than we thought. Cheers.
You should totally do once or twice a year guided tours for the gays, lez, they and them. People have to do their own hotels, flights. But you guys ferry people. X
I loved, loved, loved this episode. Now I have an idea of where everything is located, and a thing like the 7-eleven meeting spot is something that is impossible to know when you come as a tourist. Great work guys!
16:05 The bar called Bridge, above Onnanoko Club, is a chill spot for grown-ups who are into movies.
Also, at a well-established club called New Sazae, you can dance to nostalgic disco music from the 80s.😂
My favorite bar is of course Tac's Knot.🎉
OMG, New Sazae still exists? I went there when I lived in Japan in the 80s. I'm totally gonna check it out when I arrive for the blossoms later this month.
Oh, and Tac's Knot was a fave of me and my bf Hiroshi back then. I have photos of us getting quite, uh, plastered there.
New Sazae is my favorite!
@@karaiwonder see you there in April!
As a younger person in his 20s going to Japan this summer, thanks so much for making this video 😭😭 I'll be puking in the same garage space outside arty 🙈
Dragon Men is a must if you want dancing
This video came out at a perfect time for me! My best friend and I are going to be in Tokyo, staying in Shinjuku and as first times, this has given me lot to great ideas. Thanks boys!
Thank you guys, this gonna be soooo useful for my upcoming travel! I do appreciate it 🙏
Thank you Meng and Andrew for putting this together. I have been coming to Japan for about a year from California without knowing where to go and this video has been very resourceful. I appreciate the work you two put into it.
As always you guys keep pumping out good content and I love seeing all the bars. I just read the titan’s bride and made me realise that I’m bisexual that leans in to guys more now.
I enjoy your videos! I have never been to Japan, but I feel like I'm getting a little slice of life with your videos. Not only touring the bars and such but also seeing how life operates in Tokyo. I feel like I have a personal tour guide to the city. Thank you!
So happy to hear ❤️✨
Meng and Andrew back again to be chaotic and fabulous 👏🏽
This is funnnnn ❤❤❤
It’s great to watch a walk tour since Nichome is very crammed and confusing 😫
Thanks for the vid! Have a good day ✨
Thank you love
In my first night in Japan on Monday, I went to Nichome and Aiirow and bumped into Don and ended up in a gay bar that welcomed me given I spoke no Japanese.
Then I had to be up at 5am to get to FujiQ in time. Rollercoasters hungover was an experience.
Got to thank you two for all your content through the years that equipped me to enjoy the gay side of Japan :3
What a lovely tour, you two! Such awesome recommendations 👏🏽
This is perfect, bless your little souls for the inclusive coverage
You guys always know the most fun spots! Thank you for sharing! Brings back memories when I used to be in Japan!
great video, you guys show so many spots and share tips for visitors according to a wide variety of people and tastes !
Great video and recommendations! I only wish you go back and do this at night with the crowds! 🙏🥳
I'm going to Tokyo in April and your channel has been most informative 🙏🙏 thank you for all the hard work!
Randomly stumbled on your video! You two are soooo cute! I've never been to japan but you two have inspired me to come! 🎉🎉🎉
Keep up the positive vibes and sharing your beautiful lives!❤️
Your timing is incredible, I needed this in-depth tour because I’m doing a solo trip to Tokyo in May for my 21st Birthday, definitely such a huge help with planning, thanks guys!
thank u for this video!! going to japan for 2 weeks at the end of march :) so excited to check out these bars!
We need an in-depth 30 minute long hattenba guide next
Thank you for the travel information 😊
It's very helpful for my upcoming Tokyo trip 🎉
Getting this video and having another 30min of Tokyo BTM content made me soooooo happy! AND will be there this month 👀
thank you so much for including some tips for lesbian viewers!! me and my partner are moving to Tokyo and this is going to be our bible 😍
i enjoyed this episode! bar hopping sounds fun in tokyo! 😊
Andrews leather Jacket is So Cute! also @6:45 mins STWEEIE VOUGUING!!
Great Tour. As someone with social anxiety I do appreciate the street drinking option.
Thanks for all the tips! I've been to some and definitely there are some new ones to visit in my next trip :D
Thanks for this video! Definitely saving this for the next trip, thanks guys ❤
PS, Andrew, your jacket is FIRE!
Thank you so much 🫰
Thanks for this video. Planning on visiting this July and was wondering where to go at night.😎👍
Great info
Going to travel to Tokyo in late Feb and hopefully see y’all in the bars when I go with my boyfriend 😊 love y’all’s energy in the video
I am so confident in many cities but had this real fear of finding my way in Japan. Thank you for providing a guide.
Such a wealth of knowledge!!! Thank you Tokyo BTMs!
Thanks for this guys, I cant wait to visit and you never know I might run into you.
Another great video. I enjoyed Arty Farty ten years ago too!
Insane, that is like more gay bars than San Francisco in just one neighborhood. Who knew? & both your outfits were really cute today.
Thank you for another epic video. So much information and a video to return to for anyone gay who is going to Tokyo. Thank you for creating it.
I love this videos ❤I’m planning my next year travel to Tokyo for second time and so his time I wanna enjoy the gay community as posible
Amazing video, thanks for all the tips :) Now I know where to go if I get the chance to hop on a flight to Tokyo :)
When I compare the two main gay in Japan channels, which are Tokyo BTM and the xtra one, I really prefer you two guys! your content is really nice, and mature. Very interesting and insightefull with the right amount of fun and love! Maybe it's because in I relate to you two more, as we are around the same age and that you lead similar lives to me. I wish you would share more about your day to day lives, but I know and agree that sharing too much private stuff isn't good! But I am really a fan and I adore your content.
Still say you guys should visit Cafe Lavanderia (the one directly across Goldfinger with the antifascist flag) they're very LGBTQ+ friendly even if they don't explicitly say it, plus I've lost count of how many people at least peaked on the inside and weren't at least mildly curious about it.
Also, they have a free toilet, host events (typically free with a donations being accepted), the drinks are cheap (the Zapatista coffee in particular is cool; you can choose how much you want to pay for it) and alcohol is reasonably priced.
Also, if you thought Tac's Knot talked about politics, they've got nothing on Lavanderia; the place is ran by anarchists, they've had fundraiser events for various social issues and was a meeting spot in the past for labor union organizers. Heck, Noam Chomsky actually visited there and signed the wall.
Es verdad que ellos hablan espanol?
Thank you for your tour. I’ve been to Aiiro Cafe in 2019. You’re right it’s a good bar to meet people. I hope to go to Aiiro in fall 2023 on my next visit to Japan.
I wish this video came out a little sooner! I just went to Tokyo and wandered around Nichome and struggled to find where to go.. I ended up going to Dragon Men which was great for dancing but I personally found the music terrible so I ended up at Eagle Blue which happened to have a kpop night called Kkisuni and that was super fun but very cramped
Haha totally agreed. Sometimes the music in dragon is not the best 🫣
Excited and nervous for my first solo trip to Tokyo! Definitely going to be different than the student trip i took in high school lol
Thanks for making this, very helpful
Going to be staying in Shinjuku for two weeks in April of 2024. This is going to be very helpful. Thank you so much!
Thanks for this! Im planning on going to Japan for the first time in may so super helpful. Also would love for video on the more......'adult' bar/spaces haha. Best ones and especially ones that are foreigner friendly would be helpful!
Thank you for making this video! All these places have been added to my to-go list next time I am in Japan 💙👏
This was a really useful video. When we went to Tokyo we had bought one of those guide books and it had an LGBTQ+ section and mentioned a few of these bars... I specifically remember Airo Cafe and Eagle. We just went to a few they recommended and sort of went from there. The 7/11 tip is especially good. In the US we generally pre-game at home before we go out because localities generally don't allow public drinking here, so when we were in Tokyo we went to a 7/11 or Family Mart near out hotel and pre-gamed in our room. Only when we got to Shinjuku-Nichome did we realize, because 7/11 is one of the first places you sort of come across. We were poor tourists so we had another drink there as well and then by that point three chuhais in we only had like one or two drinks at each bar, which saved us money.
I was in Tokyo before COVID hit. I tried to find Nichome, circling and circling around Shingjiku was tiring. This video will help me next time.
I believe I saw you Andrew at Dragon Men two weeks ago at the 3am go go boy show ..too crowded to say hi though!! So much fun! Omg the 7-11 is definitely busy and overflowing with people...
On an aside note, how long have you and Meng studied the Japanese language/how long have you both been in Japan? I am so impressed by your command of the language (from a very casual Japanese language learner!)
The best! Thank you for bringing this content :D
Glad you enjoy it!
Thank you for this video! I'm saving it so I know what I'm doing when I come to Japan in my dreams.
OMG! I need to hit up Tac's Knot soon, I never knew about it!
I really liked having a tour through the area, even if I'll probably never be there, nice job! I realize this is a very US-centric view (though to be fair I have the same complaints about a ton of queer spaces in the US), but it's disappointing to see so many places with a single step going in. So close to being super accessible and inclusive, but so far! But that's not on you guys of course (though it'd be cool to highlight accessible places for folks in/visiting Japan!). Keep up the amazing work, it's so cool to see different queer spaces around the world, in Japan, and how things are in other places. 🖤
I used to live like 3 mins walk away from ni chome and I miss just walking around the streets. Even if not for hook up but the vibe is really fun in ni chome.
>Meng describing DragonMen
>Fast forwards throughout.
Some nice new places for me to discover! See you in June!
Love all of your Nichome videos! Now do this same one but at night with drinking! 🤩🥂💃🏻 haha
i was in tokyo in early jan, and came here just for a quick visit, though i left without doing anything because i felt super out of place haha (i was alone and ive never done anything remotely nightlife-y in my life lol...)
i remember seeing a lot of these places though, and maybe im not ready for it yet, but hopefully i can get comfortable enough to enter one of them next time i visit :)
the aiiro rainbow torii is iconic fr tho
It is hard to initiate conversation or go to places on your own. I wish you had a great trip
@@TokyoBTM i did, thanks! :)
Haha Arty and Dragon and Eagle used to be my stomping grounds back in 2018-2020. I can’t wait to move back to Tokyo.
Great video boys! I love that there are so many gay bars. There are none here where I live in Wyoming.
Also I need more Goth Girlfriend in my life.
I relate very much. To me Nichome was synonym of arty and dragon... But not anymore
This was the episode I needed!! Where do I tip haha
Big props for the mini-map! It's like playing an RPG. ^_^
Hey Tokyo BTM!! Glad to see new content
Lived in Japan in the 80s and 90s. Surprised to see Arty Farty and Kusuo still going strong!
Dear Gents... Thank you for the lovely vids - I love it. I always wanted to come visit Japan, but a friend who visited there recently said that it is not really gay-friendly. Can you please perhaps make a video on that? Not sure...
Well done guys, an update since reopening.
Is there any place that has a drag king show? (same idea of drag queens but they are women dressing a male character)
Does 2-Chome have any daytime activity? (Other than the coffee place you visited)? Shopping, brunch, lunch…? Or is that not part of gay/queer culture in Tokyo?
Nichome is a nightlife town, but it is still part of Shinjuku. Shinjuku is the busiest station in Japan. It has countless options for shopping, dining and entertainment.
Yet another one of your videos that's will be bookmarked for a possible Tokyo visit.
I love this!
Best video you made yet
So much useful and informative. Thank you guys for giving us a tour. Wish that there was a channel like this for gay people, especially gay foreigners in Korea. Anyone might give me some suggestions?
Great video!
Great content. Probably something only you guys can make. Like an episode of Gay Animal Crossing
メチャクチャ helpful guide, ありがとう！
So happy to hear
I'm going to Japan in a few weeks so will definitely check these places out ;D
Thank you for the tour, it was really interesting, and quite a few places to visit, Cute Japanese guys at the end... One thing i did notice opposite Kusuo was some graffiti which surprised me, I thought Japan was strict on regulations..
Have you made a video about Ryousuke Nanasaki? I read "BOKU GA OTTO NI DEAU MADE", the manga and the novel about his life, both were even published in Germany.
I used to live in Japan and went to Nichome for the first time last December. I felt so lost bc I was looking for areas like Wellesley in Toronto lol. I was surprised the area itself in general just looked normal lol
Great video!
Got a question, tough. How wheelchair accessible are these places? I'm a gay man in a power wheelchair. I would love to check these places out when I come to Tokyo.
Which places are friendly for first time solo travellers? ❤
Thanks for the FTM content!!
If I didn't know nichome like the back of my hand, my bad sense of direction would've been already lost after King 😂
Andrew & Meng have such great chemistry together. Fans may agree, "we" should ship them together!! Just saying!! Please Andrew & Meng, marry each other like now! Right now! Don't pass go, just go and get married to each other!! Or, get into a throuple?!! Triple the income and the bedroom exercises will never be boring!! Right?! Andrew & Meng have insane chemistry. They need to be lifelong partners forever, husband & husband.
Any plan to do a tour video about osaka and other major cities ? :)
What time do people generally start and end the night in nichome? Where I’m from in Melbourne we start at 11pm and go until around 4am and get an Uber home. but it sounds like a lot of people in Tokyo finish the night around the last train? Thanks for this video! It’s so so useful
0:47
Andrew: And you might be thinking why are we talking about 7-Eleven on a Nichome tour?
Me: Because they sell condoms.
Andrew, please drop where you bought that jacket! I love it!!
Thanks. Very interesting.
Honorable mention: Ao! 😩
Since the Snack Bars are so small are they always packed on the weekends? Any particular etiquette when waiting? Or do you just move on to a different bar?
Thanks so nice vidéo
I’m talking about going to Tokyo one day but I have to get over being on the plane for more than 4 hours 😩😫
Is shearling the 'in fashion' for mens coats in Japan?