C A P S, CAPS CAPS CAPS

April 15, 2009 11:17 AM

Tokyo, NHL hockey, and nightlife.

I planned a trip to Tokyo months ago. I'll be there from the 18th to the 25th.
I'm also a Capitals season ticket holder and when the schedule was released this week for the playoffs my heart sunk seeing that I'd be missing home games 2&5 by about 12 hours.

Does anyone have any advice on where to go to watch NHL playoff games?
There used to be this place called the Maple Leaf but I think that's closed.
I'm hoping someone here has some firsthand sports bar experiences that have a place won't shun me for not wanting to watch futball.

My days are going to be pretty packed but I'm going to try to have some wicked fun nightlife while I'm there. Any advice on that would be good too.

posted by zephyr_words to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

For wicked fun nightlife you should head to Roppongi, Shibuya, or the Kabuki-cho area of Shinjuku. I'm not sure where you can watch the hockey game but those areas have the highest concentration of "gaijin bars" and a higher likelyhood that some expat or tourist is in the same boat as you. Actually, there's a Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi that might show sports at the bar. Ask around.
posted by zardoz at 5:27 PM on April 15, 2009

As far as I can tell the only company with NHL rights in Japan is J Sports, and they're as of now they're only broadcasting Blackhawks vs. Blue Jackets (4/18) and Blackhawks vs. Flames (4/25). So if you want to see any Capitals games you may be out of luck.

As far as where you can watch, The Hub (a chain of English-style pubs) has J Sports in all of its locations, so if you ask one of the bartenders nicely I'm sure you could watch (though you'd be watching at around 5 AM for one of the games).
posted by armage at 10:26 PM on April 15, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks a lot! The Hard Rock is a good idea too.

I'll try these suggestions and update in a couple days.
posted by zephyr_words at 2:15 PM on April 16, 2009

Response by poster: None of these places had the game. I ended up just internet streaming.

Roppongi is incredibly aggressive about trying to get you into strip clubs. They won't take no for an answer and follow you around for at least half a block where some other pusher has already started following you.

Still a great time and met a lot of cool people. Fun trip, good food, would go again.
posted by zephyr_words at 2:08 PM on May 19, 2009

Too bad about the hockey.

Yeah, the black touts in Roppongi (and to a lesser extent, Kabukicho) can be pretty annoying, which is one of the reasons why I avoid Roppongi. My solution is to put on some headphones. Whether you actually listen to anything is up to you, but they tend to ignore you if they think you can't hear them.
posted by armage at 8:06 PM on May 19, 2009