When you walk around a gaming event, you come across unexpected games at all sorts of booths.
You might casually try out a game you’ve never even heard of, only to find yourself completely hooked before you know it. But once the event is over, there’s no telling when you’ll have another encounter like that.
We want to create a place where these “event encounters” can continue for the long term. “UKIYO GAME BAR & CAFE,” which recently opened in Yurakucho, Tokyo, is an indie game bar born from this very idea.
It’s run by Ukiyo Studios, which supports game developers and publishers both in Japan and abroad. During TGS 2026, we visited the venue and spoke with Atsushi Takahashi of Ukiyo Studios to find out why a game company opened a bar, what kinds of games they’ll feature, and how they plan to develop this space in the future.
“Trade shows are over in the blink of an eye”—Creating a place where games can be showcased 365 days a year
――First, could you tell us what kind of place this is?
Takahashi: “Indie Game Bar in Tokyo” is the slogan for this store.
We at Ukiyo Studios have traveled the world, participating in events, supporting international expansion, and helping overseas developers and publishers enter the Japanese market. Through these activities, we’ve been introducing games from around the globe in various locations.
During that time, we started thinking, “It would be nice to have a place where we could showcase games for a bit longer.” Trade shows last two days or five days—they’re over in the blink of an eye, aren’t they? It really felt like a waste for it all to end so quickly.
So we decided, “Why not create a physical space where people can play games 365 days a year?” By leveraging the unique connections that only Ukiyo has, we want to continuously introduce exciting titles from around the world. That’s the spirit behind the creation of the UKIYO GAME BAR.
――Is there a reason you focus primarily on indie games?
Takahashi: Part of it is that I’m often involved with indie games professionally, but really, it’s simply because I love them. I think indie games allow creators to directly channel their personal “passions” into their work.
For example, have you heard of a game called *Arctic Eggs*? It’s a game where you just keep frying eggs in a frying pan—or even burning cigarettes—but it’s really hard to explain in a single sentence what kind of game it is, isn’t it?
I really love games that take things—the kind of things that make you wonder, “What on earth are they doing here?”—and do them with complete seriousness. So, wanting to collect and showcase those kinds of indie games is one of the reasons, too. Inside the store, there’s also a “Real Buckshot Roulette” set up, which originated from an event exhibition.
――Was this originally made for an event?
Takahashi: We made it for the 2024 Tokyo Game Show. At that time, Japanese streamer k4sen came by to play it and really liked it. We ended up exhibiting it at “k4sen Con” as well.
From there, we started bringing it to events, and this “Real Buckshot” became quite popular in Japan. Partly because of that, I thought that since we’re running a bar anyway, having this as one of our attractions might be a great way to draw people in.
The upper floor, where the “Real Buckshot Roulette” is set up, is primarily used as an event space, and we plan to host seminars and talk events there in the future.
On the day of our interview, he mentioned that a developer from overseas who was in Japan for TGS was planning to stop by that evening, and he expressed his desire to use the space as a venue for such exchanges.
The game lineup changes every two weeks. Bringing titles discovered around the world to Yurakucho
At UKIYO GAME BAR, the games on offer aren’t fixed. The PCs in the bar are equipped with a custom launcher, allowing players to enjoy about 20 titles at any given time. They plan to rotate the lineup roughly every half-month.
――So if I visit again after a while, the games available will have changed?
Takahashi: That’s right. UKIYO Studios is connected with developers and publishers all over the world, and we ourselves attend about 20 events worldwide each year.
At those events, if we come across a game and think, “This is fun” or “I’d love for people in Japan to play this,” we can approach the developer right then and there.
“How about releasing your game at our bar?” (laughs).
If you drop by on a whim and think, “I’ll come back next month,” you’ll discover games that are a little different from what you saw last time. That’s the kind of place we want to create. This system is said to be very significant in introducing overseas indie games to Japanese players.
Takahashi: Exhibiting at events like the Tokyo Game Show or BitSummit is incredibly difficult for overseas developers. It costs a lot of money, including travel expenses. So, the overseas titles you actually see at Japanese trade shows are really just a small fraction of what’s out there.
But at a bar, if they just send us the game data, we can show it to everyone in Japan in an exhibition format relatively easily.
In fact, we can even go to events like Gamescom Latam, discover games from various regions—including Brazil and Chile—and say, “Let’s showcase them at our bar!”
I think one of UKIYO GAME BAR’s strengths is that we can introduce games this way—games that people in Japan haven’t really had the chance to experience before.
Furthermore, they’re considering initiatives that pair games with drinks.
For example, for a game from Taiwan, we might pair it with the Taiwanese whiskey “KAVALAN” or bubble milk tea. For a game from Australia, we might pair it with local gin or whiskey—we’re exploring initiatives where visitors can experience not only the game but also the culture of the region where it was created.
Takahashi: Showing Australian titles while pairing them with Australian drinks—that’s something we’d like to do in the future.
“Honestly, you don’t need to know anything about UKIYO.”
—Finally, please share a few words for those who don’t know about UKIYO yet.
Takahashi: Honestly, you don’t need to know about UKIYO. We see ourselves as the “behind-the-scenes” players in the indie game industry, so UKIYO itself shouldn’t stand out too much.
Our role is to constantly cheer on the works of our partner game developers and publishers.
Even if there’s no direct financial exchange with a partner, if I think, “This is fun” or “Games like this deserve to be better known,” I want to keep introducing them at the bar.
Of course, this isn’t limited to games from overseas. It also includes Japanese titles we encounter at events like Tokyo Indies and Tokyo Game Dungeon—and personally, I’m a huge fan of doujin games. I want to keep introducing those kinds of games at this bar and spread the word that “Japanese indie games are incredibly fun, too.”
I hope to showcase interesting indie games from all over the world—both domestic and international—through this kind of grassroots effort.
So, if you’re a fan of indie games, please come check us out. We’ve got everything—great drinks and fun games.
Looking ahead, they also plan to sell game merchandise provided by Fangamer and various publishers.
The phrase, “Honestly, you don’t need to know anything about UKIYO,” struck me as a succinct expression of the bar’s philosophy: they want the games—not themselves—to take center stage.
If you visit in two weeks, you might find a different selection of games on display than last time. UKIYO GAME BAR seems poised to become a place where you can drop by in search of new games to discover, rather than a place you visit after deciding exactly which game you want to play.
UKIYO GAME BAR Store Information
Address: 3rd & 4th Floors, 1-3-8 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Access: About a 2-minute walk from Exit A4 of Tokyo Metro Hibiya Station; about a 3-minute walk from Exit C1 of Ginza Station
Hours: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Closed: None
Official Website: UKIYO GAME BAR Official Website
