JDO Field Trip: Kagaya Bar

Good bartenders usually have a special skill.

Sometimes they mix a good drink that keeps customers coming back over and over again, sometimes they juggle bottles and provide a show, and sometimes, they're just a sympathetic ear after a long day's work or a run with heartbreak. Mark Kagaya, Kagaya's bartender and owner, doesn't really have any of those things going for him, but he has one thing that has patrons coming back for more - absolute insanity.

Located in the basement of a Tokyo strip mall, Mark Kagaya's bar has allegedly been passed down from generation to generation, leading to its current state. The big draw of Kagaya is the crazy shinanigans that take the form of yelling, screaming, costumes, (worn by both Mark and the bar's patrons) and a dash of amateur puppetry.

The brand of chaos that you get varies, judging from the personal accounts of former patrons, no two experiences in Kagaya seem to be alike. Sometimes ordering food takes the form of a twisted puppet show involving a teddy bear that showcases how good the food is, other times, you order by going through a coloring book, and choosing your food item based on a country that you choose. Mark's mom (age 70, according to firsthand accounts) occasionally gets involved with the festivities, with her and Mark wearing matching aprons.

Stocked with alcohol, animal costumes, novelty mugs, and other toys, the whole bar slowly turns into a demonstration of what would happen if you unleashed a bunch of adults into a toddler's playroom and served them booze, presumably without the subsequent arrests, of course.









Source: Atlas Obscura