It seems that lately, every time I travel, either alone or with my wife, I come across a craft beer brewery. When I first came to Tokyo the only craft brewery I was aware of was TY Harbor, near Shinagawa. Even though it was quite a way from home, I used to go anyway for some quality beer, something that was seemingly everywhere back in Portland, Oregon, where I am from.

These days, there are nine actual brewpubs I frequent, all not too far from my home in Ningyōchō (Our Craft, Kodenmachō; Hitachino Beer Lab, Kanda-Manseibashi; Vector Brewing, Asakusabashi (bottles to go only from at the brewery) ; Beer Kobo, Nishi Asakusa; Kameido Brewing, Kamedo; Hokusai Brewing, Kinshichō; Edo Tokyo Beer, Kōtō-ku Senda; Gahaha Brewing, Kōtō-ku Minamisuna; and Folkways Brewing, Kōtō-ku Hirano. There is also Miyata Beer, near Tokyo Sky Tree, although he seems to not be open any more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are also some places very close to home that pour their own beer which is brewed elsewhere, including Nihonbashi Brewery (a spin-off from a brewery in Portland!), Devil Craft Beer and Pizza, and the recently opened ØL Oslo in Kodenmachō. For a good selection of craft beers on tap, nothing beats Beer Club Popeye in Ryōgoku. But there’s good beers elsewhere, including Craft Beer Market and a fairly new place my wife came across in Tōyō, near Tōyōchō Station called Mots Beer Party. Mots is tiny, set in an old house at the back of a gravel parking lot on a quiet street in a mixed use neighborhood, with just four or five stools at the counter and one old chair in front. But the beer selection is good, and interesting, a mix of Japanese brews as well as some from the US and Europe. There is also an extensive Japan craft gin menu. And the food isn’t too bad either. The music, if you can all it that, has been industrial noise every time I have visited. Not my BGM of choice.

 

One thing I noticed while at Mots recently is the labels on Japanese canned brews. Thanks to a fairly recent invention, beers from anywhere can be poured into a special can with a top that is then put on and sealed. The labels on the small batch canned beers at Mots all feature manga characters, plus the beer information. With so many manga artists in Japan, there is no limit to how many beers can be canned and labeled with original, brightly colored artwork.

Mots Beer Part: 東京都江東区東陽5-24-12