There are thousands of night spots hidden beneath Tokyo’s train tracks. This is one of them.

After a long flight, some people like to hit the hotel bed. I’d rather start exploring. I like to walk the area near my hotel and find a spot where I can hang out with locals. These photos are from a tiny yakiton bar I found under some train tracks in Tokyo. The beer was cold, the people were warm.

Yakitori bars feature chicken (“yakitori,” in fact, means “grilled chicken”), but “yakiton” means “grilled pork,” as indicated by the pig on the sign. I spent three days trying to find this place so I could return to it, and when I finally saw that pig on the sign I knew I was home.

Yakiton Hiro-Chan

This picture of the chef is one of my favorite pictures I shot in Tokyo. He’s so joyful and full of life. He made grilled skewers of pork belly smothered with grilled leeks that were amazing. We became Facebook friends but can’t understand any of each others posts.

Chef at Yakiton Hiro-Chan

You hear a lot about the “salarymen” in Tokyo but you never meet them if you only hang out with tourists. These guys were a blast, just unwinding a bit after work before a long train trip home.