TOKYO GUIDE | EBISU DAGASHI BAR IN SHIBUYA
Recently in Tokyo, dagashi bars have been popping all over the city. With just an entry fee of 500 Yen plus one drink order per person, you can enjoy some dagashi snacks to go with your alcoholic beverage. Dagashi - literally meaning cheap or low quality snacks, are basically an equivalent to the penny candy - cheap snacks and candy. Dagashi are traditionally priced at anywhere from 10-50 Yen, but at dagashi bars, all the snacks laid out around the store are free to take, and as much as you want! The stores are themed in a post war Showa era bar - a common association between dagashi and post war Japan.
Dagashi has been around since the edo period (1603-1868), but the modern, popular form took shape post war Showa Period from the 1950s-1980s. Many dagashi stores began popping up and started selling small snacks that could be bought with pocket change - a budget that small children would have through allowance. These stores became an after school hangout for school children where they can purchase small, cheap snacks. Many of the dagashi are packaged in bright, childish wrappings that often includes a prize or toy. Some are even themed with popular TV show characters or famous athletes - a child’s sports hero.
Dagashi Stores are not too common anymore as many have been turned into convenience stores now, but you can still enjoy dagashi at the Ebisu Dagashi Bar in Shibuya. If you want unique things to do in Tokyo, Japan then this bar is definitely a go to! Just a 5 minute walk from Ebisu Station, you will feel as if you are back in the 1960s as a Japanese child.
Location:
150-0021 Tokyo, Shibuya City, 13, 恵比寿西１−１３−７
Tokyo Guide: The Ebisu Dagashi Bar in Shibuya themed in a Showa Era styled building.