Beer Club Popeye
Ryogoku, Tokyo
Beer Club Popeye has been open since 1985 near the sumo stadium, and it's the pub credited with popularising the term craft beer in Japan. Around 70 carefully kept Japanese taps, and a pilgrimage for beer lovers.
Insider tip
Come for happy hour from 3pm, Monday to Saturday, when many beers come with free snacks. Closed Sundays.
What the guides say about Beer Club Popeye
Ryogoku Edo Noren, in the 1929 station building next to the JR platform, is the easiest place to try chanko nabe without a booking. Beer Club Popeye has around 70 Japanese craft beers on tap a few minutes from the hall, with happy hour from 3pm, Monday to Saturday. The Sumo Museum inside the Kokugikan is free on weekdays outside tournaments, and Yokoamicho Park, the 1923 earthquake memorial, is a six-minute walk east of the hall.
For a proper meal before or after, Ryogoku Edo Noren, in the old station building next to the JR platform, has chanko and other old Tokyo dishes around a full-size ring. The streets around the station are full of chanko restaurants, several of them run by former wrestlers. For a drink after the last bout, Beer Club Popeye pours around 70 Japanese craft beers a short walk from the hall.
What's on near Beer Club Popeye
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Beer Club Popeye, from the weekly Tokyo events calendar.
Bridge! Art and social welfare (Sumida Art Festival, Tokyo Reconstruction Memorial Museum)
ブリッジ！-アートと社会福祉のあわいのなかで-
Time 9:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30, closed Mondays (next day if Monday is a holiday) Station Ryogoku Station (JR Sobu Line, Toei Oedo Line)
Kawada Satoshi shows 19 new murals based on Sumida buildings and structures alongside the museum's permanent display, as part of the Sumida Art Festival.
Fusuma and Folding Screens at Ekoin: Senju Hiroshi and Ishiodori Tatsuya
回向院 寺宝公開 空間を彩る「襖絵と屏風絵の世界展」
Time 10:00 to 17:00 Station Ryogoku (JR Sobu Line), 3 min walk
Ekoin shows Senju Hiroshi's waterfall sliding-door paintings and Ishiodori Tatsuya's folding screens, some not usually on view, for five days in its temple halls by Ryogoku station.
Chiyonoyama and His Disciples (Sumo Museum)
生誕100年 千代の山とその弟子
Time 10:00 to 16:30 (last entry 16:00), closed Saturdays, Sundays and holidays (some open days) Station Ryogoku (JR Sobu Line, Toei Oedo Line), 2 min walk
The Sumo Museum marks the centenary of the 41st yokozuna Chiyonoyama with his ceremonial aprons, yokozuna certificate and handprints, plus items from his rivals and his disciples Kitanofuji and Chiyonofuji.
sodai gomi, CC BY 2.0 DDT Pro-Wrestling Ultimate Party 2026
Ultimate Party 2026
Time Doors 12:30, start 14:00 Station Ryogoku Station (JR Sobu Line, Toei Oedo Line)
DDT Pro-Wrestling holds its Ultimate Party show at Ryogoku Kokugikan, with doors at 12:30 and the first bout at 14:00.
nakashi, CC BY-SA 2.0 January Grand Sumo Tournament 2027
令和9年 一月場所(初場所)
Station Ryogoku (JR Chuo-Sobu Line), 1 min walk
The Hatsu Basho is the first of the year's six Grand Sumo tournaments and runs for 15 days at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. It opens on a Sunday and ends on a Sunday, with advance tickets going on sale on December 5, 2026.
Gregg Tavares, CC BY 2.0 Smaller local events nearby
Sumida Craftspeople photo exhibition Exhibition
On now, until 1 Nov · Pictorico Shop & Gallery, Ryogoku
Twenty-four photographs of Sumida's craftspeople at work, on show at the Pictorico gallery opposite the Kokugikan, closed Mondays.
11:00 to 18:00 · Map · Source: Sumida 3M Movement PR Committee · 「すみだ 職人たちの群像2026」 写真展
Kokugikan-dori Illumination Illumination
28 Nov to 6 Feb (dates to be confirmed) · Kokugikan-dori, Ryogoku
The shopping street association lights up Kokugikan-dori in Ryogoku every winter evening from 17:00 to 23:00.
Free · 17:00 to 23:00 · Map · Source: Kokugikan-dori shopping street association · 国技館通り イルミネーション
Nearby
Around Ryogoku
Sumo town on the Sumida, with Hokusai and a tidal garden next door
Ryogoku is sumo's home. The national stadium is beside the station, the stables are in the side streets, and you'll see wrestlers in yukata on the platform. Around the Kokugikan sit the newly reopened Edo-Tokyo Museum, a Hokusai museum in the district where he was born, and a small garden built to follow the river tides. It's one of the easiest half-days in east Tokyo.
Ryogoku has 11 places on the Roam Tokyo map: 4 museums, 2 parks and gardens, 2 bathhouses, 1 landmark, 1 bar and 1 restaurant. Read the Ryogoku guide.
Good to know
- How do I get to Beer Club Popeye?
- The nearest station is Ryogoku (JR Sobu). Beer Club Popeye is in Ryogoku, Tokyo.
- How much does Beer Club Popeye cost?
- Beer Club Popeye is mid-range, marked ¥¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Beer Club Popeye?
- Plan for 1-2 hours.
- When is the best time to visit Beer Club Popeye?
- Happy hour, before 8pm.
Stay near Beer Club Popeye
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