Beer Garden Saga

If I asked you to imagine a beer garden, you would probably think of a garden with tables and buxom Fräuleins serving big, frosty glasses of beer with pretzels. I used to live in Munich, so that’s what came to my mind at least. In Nagoya “beer gardens” are a summer phenomenon that we have still yet to experience. The first important thing to note is that there are no gardens involved. Beer gardens Japan style are basically rooftop city bars serving burnt meats and plastic cups of beer from vending machines. On Saturday night, we were meeting our hiking friends for a farewell bash for June who is going back to Norway and Kazue who is moving to Tokyo. David and I went along to a beer garden opposite the station and put our name down for a table for 10 at 8pm. It was only 6.30, but there were dozens of people waiting in the sweaty room next to the lift. The harassed-looking girl at the door told us that even though our name was down, we would probably still have to wait once we got there. We went back a bit later (taking Maki with us to negotiate in Japanese if need be) and they told her the same thing. By now there were even more crowds waiting for a table – we would have to wait for at least an hour. Obviously everyone in Nagoya had had the same bright idea. We decided to cancel our request, go back and join the others at the Takashimaya clock and think of a plan B. After a bit of traipsing around the city, we finally found somewhere with a free table for 10 and had a fun night. It’s a good job we are all used to hiking. So, we have yet to discover the joys of beer gardens. We need to go early or on a weeknight. Watch this space for a full report – hopefully before the weather gets too humid and we don’t go anywhere that isn’t air conditioned.










Meeting at Takashimaya clock (Nagoya's equivalent of "front gate of Trinity")










We finally find a restaurant.