Bunraku
Bunraku is a yakitori bar squeezed into a space beneath the JR railway tracks near Okachimachi Station. The bar seats about 15 people on stools along a single L-shaped counter, with the grill positioned directly in front of the customers so you can watch the chef work. Chicken skewers start at 150 JPY each, with popular cuts including thigh, skin, cartilage, liver, and heart. Draft beer is 400 JPY. The smoke from the charcoal grill fills the tiny space and clings to your clothes, which is part of the experience. The chef grills with a precision that belies the casual setting, basting each skewer with tare sauce or finishing with salt depending on the cut. The clientele is almost entirely Japanese regulars who come for the consistency and value. English is not spoken, but the menu has pictures. Orders are placed by pointing and nodding. It's crowded, smoky, and one of the most satisfying cheap meals in the Ueno area.
Where to stay near Bunraku
Hotels and rentals within walking distance.
What to Expect
A tiny, smoky counter bar where a chef grills chicken skewers over charcoal while trains rumble overhead. The food is excellent and the bill is tiny.
Smoky, intimate, and delicious. Pure under-the-tracks Tokyo.
Grill sizzle and train rumble
No code. Your clothes will smell like smoke regardless.
Yakitori lovers, budget diners, old-Tokyo atmosphere chasers
Cash only
Price Range
Yakitori skewers 150-300 JPY each, draft beer 400 JPY, sake 350 JPY, set of 5 skewers 700 JPY
Skewers ~$1-2/~0.90-1.80 EUR, beer ~$2.60/~2.40 EUR
Hours
16:00-22:00, closed Wednesdays
Insider Tip
The chicken skin skewer is the best thing on the menu; order it first. Ask for the moritsuke (mixed set) if you want the chef to choose for you. Arrive by 17:00 or expect to wait.
Full Review
Bunraku is the kind of place that makes you wonder why you ever pay more for food. Under the JR tracks, in a space barely wider than a train carriage, a single chef grills yakitori over bincho-tan charcoal with a skill that would earn recognition at restaurants charging five times the price.
The counter forms an L-shape around the grill. Sit close and you watch every skewer being turned, basted, and pulled at the exact right moment. The heat from the charcoal is palpable in winter, and in summer the tiny space becomes genuinely hot. A small fan oscillates overhead, pushing smoke upward through vents in the low ceiling.
I started with the moritsuke set: five skewers chosen by the chef, arriving one at a time. Chicken thigh with tare sauce came first, charred at the edges and juicy inside. Chicken skin, coiled tightly on the skewer and grilled until crispy, was the standout. Liver, heart, and cartilage followed, each with its own character. The total for five skewers was 700 JPY.
Draft beer at 400 JPY washed everything down perfectly. The salty, smoky flavors of the chicken and the cold bitterness of the beer formed one of those combinations that needs no improvement. I ordered three more individual skewers (negima, tsukune, and another skin) and a second beer.
The bill was 1,950 JPY for eight skewers and two beers. The man next to me, a regular in a construction helmet, nodded approvingly at my order and offered a recommendation for his favorite skewer. We exchanged a few words in broken Japanese and English, toasted beers, and returned to our respective meals.
The Neighborhood
Bunraku is under the JR tracks near Okachimachi, part of the gaado-shita strip that includes Kadokura and other standing bars. Ameyoko market is a 2-minute walk north.
Getting There
JR Okachimachi Station, walk north along the tracks for 1 minute. The bar is under the arches, identifiable by the smoke coming from beneath the noren curtain.
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