Japan may be known for its sake but beer is everywhere! There are beer festivals all year round. All of the beer gardens come out to play in summer. What seems like all major department stores have a rooftop beer garden. Wander around Tokyo enough and you are sure to find a Kirin Ichiban Garden.
Location of Kirin Ichiban Garden
Good luck finding information about Kirin Ichiban Garden on the internet. I’m not joking that you have to go wandering to find one of these. The first time I saw one was up the hill from Shibuya’s famous crossing.
I went looking for it in 2016 and it was gone! Thing is, they are mobile. Who knew?
I found one by chance while I was in Ometo-sando for Q-Pot Cafe’s yearly Sailor Moon cafe event. The atmosphere and style was different than the first year’s pop-up Kirin Beer Garden.
The offerings at Kirin Beer Garden
This year (2016), it wasn’t just beer! Different booths/food trucks made it feel like a festival. A map was on the Kirin Beer Garden menu. Options of pizza, fries, and a grill with multiple options.
The fun part? Beer from different breweries – yet all Kirin! Every summer I notice “special can” Kirin and never could figure out what it was. Apparently, each of Kirin’s breweries does there own special run (or that’s my understanding at least). Throughout the summer, you can try three different types each week from 38 different breweries across the country.
Kirin Beer Garden Atmosphere
When we got there, it was a weekday early afternoon and the place was hopping! We were happy to find a stand-up table. Wood planked floors and retractable sunshades finished the venue off. I wish I’d had the opportunity to go back at night (Tokyo summer days are HOT), maybe next year I’ll come across one again!
Each of the stand up tables had flags with the Kirin logo.
A look at the crowd. Bring your friends!