Japan’s Countryside, Distilled: A New Bar Opens in Tokyo

What Is Satoyama?

Satoyama refers to landscapes shaped by centuries of close contact between people and nature: a patchwork of mountains, woodland, and farmland where plants and trees grow follow the turn of the seasons–one of Japan’s archetypal countryside scenes. These natural riches have long served daily life as food, medicine, and fragrance.

SATOYAMA SPIRITS TOKYO turns its attention to the last of these: the scents of the plants and flowers that grow in these landscapes, offered here as a new way to experience Japanese nature–as a cocktail.

Distilling the Landscape

The bar’s concept is “the scents of this country, in a cocktail.” Ingredients such as aomoji (a citrus-scented laurel), hinoki cypress, akaezomatsu (Sakhalin spruce), Ryukyu cinnamon, kinmokusei (fragrant olive), and robai (wintersweet) are smoked, roasted, infused, or distilled, the method chosen to suit each ingredient’s character.

Distilling aomoji, for example, draws out a fresh, lemongrass-like aroma, while Ryukyu cinnamon leaves are warmed and smoked over the irori–a traditional sunken hearth–to build up layer their fragrance in layers. These extracted scents then go into gin and tonics, martinis, and other cocktails.

The Aomoji GIN&TONIC uses essence water distilled from aomoji for a bright, lemongrass-like profile. The Ryukyu Cinnamon Espresso Martini draws fragrance from Ryukyu cinnamon through three different extraction methods, for a layered depth of flavor. The BUTTERED RUM Kusaki CHAI is made to order: hanayomogi (a mugwort variety) and getto (shell ginger) are ground on the spot and simmered over the irori into a drink rich with spice and herbs.

On the Plate

The dessert menu draws on satoyama ingredients alongside traditional Japanese staples. The house-made anmitsu combines shiratama dumplings kneaded with red sansho pepper, hojicha syrup, kuromoji (spicebush) ice cream, and red peas. The ice cream monaka pairs tonka-bean ice cream, white bean paste, and mascarpone with citrus peel.

Both are contemporary takes on traditional sweets, designed to pair with the cocktails.

By the Open Fire

At the center of the bar counter sits an irori hearth. Cocktail ingredients are toasted over it and bar food cooked there, each step performed in front of the guests. The interior, built from reclaimed wood and raw, unpolished materials, has a calm, modern-Japanese character. In the middle of Ebisu, guests sit by an open fire among botanical scents, held at a slight remove from the city outside.

Travelers meet Japan’s culture in many forms: temples and shrines, traditional crafts, regional cooking. What SATOYAMA SPIRITS TOKYO offers is the form that can’t be seen: the scents that live in Japan’s landscapes and daily life. For an evening during a Tokyo stay, or a step outside the everyday, it is a way of experiencing Japan through an entirely different sense.

DATA
Facility: BAR SATOYAMA SPIRITS TOKYO
Address: Sanki Building 2F, 1-13-2 Ebisu-nishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Opened: August 5, 2026
Hours: 18:00–26:00 (open until 2:00 a.m.)
Seats: 30
Closed: Sundays; year-end and New Year holidays