KURAND Sake Market Shinjuku: A Self-Pour Sake Bar Near Me

At KURAND's Sake Market in Shinjuku you pay ¥3,800 at the door and then pour your own sake from the fridges until closing time. The bar is on the sixth floor of the Shinjuku Watasei Tama Building, 3-9-9 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022, right beside Exit C6 of Shinjuku-sanchome station, and it opens every evening from 6pm. If you are searching for a sake bar near me in Shinjuku and want to taste widely rather than order glass by glass, this is the format built for it.

KURAND Inc. was founded in December 2013 by Yasuaki Ogiwara, the fourth generation of a family of liquor retailers, and the company now works with about 200 breweries across Japan. Its first Sake Market opened in Nishi-Ikebukuro in March 2015, a Shibuya Dogenzaka branch followed that December, and Shinjuku opened on 6 April 2016 as the fourth store, with a draft-sake barrel tap lent by Asahitsuru, a brewery in Chiba. The shop now brands itself simply as SAKE MARKET.

The idea behind it is that sake drinkers in Japan rarely get to compare styles side by side without ordering bottle after bottle. KURAND buys 720ml bottles directly from small producers, puts them in glass-door fridges with English as well as Japanese descriptions, and leaves the choosing to you. A few labels are exclusive to the bar, and a separate guest corner holds bottles bought from ordinary liquor shops so regulars can compare familiar names with the brewery-direct ones.

Prices went up on 1 March 2026 because of rising sake purchase costs, and the official notice lists the current plans, tax included: ¥3,800 with no time limit, ¥2,700 for 90 minutes and ¥1,500 for 30 minutes, the only plan that did not change. On weekends and holidays a daytime session runs from noon to 4pm for ¥2,700. Before the rise, the unlimited plan was ¥3,600, so anyone quoting older blog prices will be off by ¥200.

No time limit has a catch: it means until closing, with a ceiling of five hours according to the TableCheck booking page. Last entry for the evening is 10:15pm and last orders 10:30pm, so the unlimited plan only pays off if you arrive early. If you can only stay for an hour or so, the 90-minute plan at ¥2,700 is the better value, and the 30-minute ¥1,500 option suits a quick tasting before dinner elsewhere.

The official site counts about 100 drinks, mostly sake but also fruit liqueurs, umeshu, shochu and wine. Everything is self-service. You pick a cup from the shelf, walk to the fridges, pour as much or as little as you like, and come back for a different style. Pour small, around a mouthful, so you can try ten or fifteen bottles without losing track of what you liked, and note the names of your favourites to buy later.

The staff will warm sake for you if you ask, which is worth doing with a rich junmai on a cold night. The Shinjuku store seats 37 people and has board games, free Wi-Fi and power outlets, which explains why groups of friends treat it like a living room. The honest downside is that it can feel more like a self-service lounge than a bar, with no bartender guiding you, so come with some curiosity rather than expecting a sommelier.

KURAND does not run a kitchen. Instead, the official site invites you to bring food in or order delivery, and it provides plates, a microwave, a knife, a chopping board and basic condiments. Because you pay up front, you can step out to a convenience store and come back, and the guideline on the booking page is about 30 minutes away. Strong-smelling food is refused, and outside alcohol is banned except on a private-hire plan.

The practical move is to pick up yakitori, onigiri or a few cheeses at a convenience store or a depachika food hall on the way from the station. Salty, fatty snacks show off a dry sake, while sweet treats work with the fruit liqueurs. Do not bring a full dinner that needs a table of plates, because the seating is tight and the point of the evening is the tasting.

Reservations are taken on TableCheck, and booking is sensible on Friday and Saturday nights. Groups are capped at 16, and parties of seven or more must book a group plan. The booking page warns that arriving more than 30 minutes late can cost you the reservation. The shop has been cashless only since 1 April 2025 and accepts credit cards, IC transit cards, PayPay, Alipay+ and WeChat Pay, so do not count on paying with yen notes.

Students with ID get ¥600 off, which makes the unlimited plan ¥3,200. A premium plan at ¥6,800 adds a 60ml pour of two out of four premium sakes on top of the unlimited fridge. If Shinjuku is full, KURAND also runs a Sake Market in Akihabara, listed on the same official site, which is the nearest backup with the same system and prices.

A few minutes' walk away at 3-6-12 Shinjuku, Shinjuku Suehirotei is one of Tokyo's yose theatres, where rakugo storytellers perform on a stage that deliberately keeps the look of the Edo period. Performances run through the afternoon and evening, so a show followed by a 90-minute sake session at KURAND makes a neat Shinjuku-sanchome evening without needing a train in between.

The surrounding Shinjuku-sanchome streets are also lined with small izakaya and bars, so if you finish the tasting before last entry elsewhere, there is no shortage of places for a final bowl of ramen or a nightcap within a few minutes' walk of Exit C6.

Address: SAKE MARKET Shinjuku, Shinjuku Watasei Tama Building 6F, 3-9-9 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022. Phone: 03-6273-2055. Hours: weekdays 6pm to 11pm, weekends noon to 4pm and 6pm to 11pm, no regular closing day. Prices: ¥3,800 unlimited, ¥2,700 for 90 minutes, ¥1,500 for 30 minutes. Cashless only. Bring your own food. Ask the Karpo APP for a ramen shop nearby when you leave.