Asahi Beer Hall in Sumida, Tokyo

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SO many bikes in Asakusa! And none of them are locked up!

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Japan has so many buildings with animals on them. Here a pig…

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….here a crab.

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I took Dallas, kicking and screaming, up to the 3rd floor to check out Uniqlo. I was looking around a bit and couldn’t find him. He was in the fitting room, trying on clothes!! We visited different locations of Uniqlo 2-3 more times on the trip and Dallas got several shirts!!

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Shopping around Asakusa. Dallas likes to speed walk through these streets instead of strolling and looking around, which is pretty annoying.

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Crossing the bridge over the Sumida River to check out the Asahi towers.

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These buildings are: Sumida City Hall, Tokyo Skytree, Asahi Beer Tower, Asahi Beer Hall.

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Asahi Annex, where you can drink and eat.

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Looking up at Asahi Beer Hall.

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Dallas enjoying his first beer.

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Asahi

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The couples behind us were doing a tasting.

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We loved this English translation of hamburger: “minced meat cutlet burger.” We spent the rest of the trip describing hamburgers this way! Also? Raugen Hot Dog? Is that supposed to be Reuben?

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As we left and started walking to our next destination we got this great view of the Tokyo Skytree.

After lunch we walked around Asakusa a little more. And then off in the distance we saw the golden poo, also known as the golden sperm, also known as Flamme d’Or. This iconic structure tops the Asahi Beer Hall on the east bank of the Sumida River in Sumida, Tokyo. So, across the river we went!

There are two main Asahi buildings. The black building with the golden poo is the Asahi Beer Hall. “The hall is described as a representation of Asahi Super Dry, shaped like a beer glass, with a black granite façade punctuated by a grid of portholes designed to give off the illusion of carbonation. It is topped with the enormous golden Asahi Flame, or Flamme d’Or, which is said to represent both a frothy head, and the yakushin, or “burning heart of Asahi beer” and its employees.” To it’s left is the Asahi Beer Tower. This is the Asahi Brewery‘s head office. This building was “designed to resemble a sudsy mug of beer with its amber-tinted glass window curtain and top frieze of triangular white panels arranged to simulate foam frothing over the roof of the building.” Source.

The beer hall and tower are all corporate offices, I think, but next door is the Asahi Annex. Beer is actually brewed here on the 2nd and 3rd floors so you get the most fresh Asahi possible. This building was four stories tall and had four options for enjoying Asahi beer (and food). There was a more formal beer and cocktail bar on the top floor, a beer restaurant on the 3rd floor, a beer hall on the 2nd and on the ground floor was a beer cafe. We opted for the cafe, called 23 Banchi Cafe, because it seemed the most casual and had outdoor seating. There were many kinds of Asahi beer, but we stuck with Asahi Super Dry and Asahi Super Dry Extra Cold, which is served at -2 Celsius.

While sitting and enjoying the Asahi day, we planned our next moves…