The Best Bar in Japan

When you come across a truly great bar you’re naturally reluctant to share it with anyone else. It’s with a certain amount of hesitation, then, that I want to introduce the magical and idiosyncratic world of Danke Schon.

The Magic That is Danke Schön

A few minutes walk from JR Funabashi station, Danke Schon is a German bar which has, since 1983, been serving top-quality imported beers and hearty fare to the good folk of Funabashi. Run by the charismatic and super-friendly Okawara-san, a Funabashi native and former Lufthansa (German national airline) sales employee, Danke Schon is an establishment which, from the first time I ventured there, pulled on my heartstrings. Great beer – the glorious Bitburger, Guinness and Heartland on tap, Becks, Lowenbrau and Erdinger in bottles and an amazing selection of handmade sausages such as Nurnberger, Chorizo and Thuringer (made by an 80 year-old German man based in Atsugi, Kanagawa prefecture), make it, in my humble opinion, one of the best bars in the world. It’s a big claim but after many years and many, many great nights spent there it seems more than justified.

Meister Okawara und Fraulein

Okawara-san, whose cheerful face graces the bar’s façade and menus, welcomes everyone with a friendly Guten Abend! (German for Good Evening!) and sets about making you feel instantly at home. The locals, too, never fail to make you welcome with polite chit-chat whilst genuinely taking an interest in where you are from and what you’re doing in Japan. Never intrusive it’s the perfect balance of hospitality and hand-picked, quality products which make Danke Schon such a local treasure. It’s also meeting the legion of regulars, who come from far and wide, that makes me feel like I’m not alone in my adoration of this place. 

Es Ist Sehr Gut

The interior, which has never changed since opening in the 80s, can only be described as enchanting. It resembles, what I imagine a German grotto to look like – wooden tables and seats, postcards from Okawara’s frequent visits to Munich and other places in Germany, authentic German beer steins, all topped off with a real, functioning cuckoo clock. It’s surreal, but in a nice way.

You’ll be glad to know the drinks menu isn’t restricted to beer. The bar has a healthy selection of standard cocktails, beer cocktails, whisky, schnapps and German wine - with the delightfully named Franken Wein being a particular favorite with the locals. The food menu also includes some gems such as German potato, beef stroganoff, spare ribs, leberkase and sauerkraut as well as other snacks and meals.

If you hit the jackpot you might make it on the special nights when Okawara-san decides to treat the patrons to a huge glass boot filled with beer – passed down the bar while everyone sings German drinking songs intermixed with delirious cheers. The scene wouldn’t be complete without Okawara-san donning his traditional German feathered cap and ringing a bell attached to the end of the bar. It‘s quirky but it’s what Danke Schon’s about. Forget the polished pretentiousness of bars in Aoyama and Nakameguro and the sleazy sports bars of Roppongi. Danke Schon is a real bar where real people go – not to be seen or to be fleeced, but to be at one with your neighborhood and neighbors and to finally feel like you belong.  

Danke Schon: Honcho, Funabashi-shi 4-16-33
ダンケシェーン - 橋市本町４－１６－３３
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/eNZt