Westward Ho!

Living in a city like Kobe sometimes makes me forget that there is a world to the west of our beautiful city, not to mention even knowing that a tiny town like Akashi even exists. But, after a lot of arm pulling and sweet talk, some friends convinced me to venture out west. Mind you, I don’t have that small of a mindset.

Yes, I’ve taken the train to Osaka on numerous occasions, even Kyoto a few times, to hook up with a few friends, and knock back a few cold ones after a hard days work. So when one of the guys told me about this Irish bar in Akashi called Murphy’s, I thought, well, it’s a lot closer than Osaka and Kyoto being only 15 minutes away on the train so what the hell.

Saturday evening we headed off for Akashi on the JR in search of this latest night life experience in Japan, passing Suma beach and going under the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge which connects Kobe to Awaji Island via Akashi. It’s an amazing structure! With a center span of 1991m (6531ft), the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is the world's longest suspension bridge.

After that bit of trivia, we arrived in Akashi and had less than a ten minute walk to get to the bar, going south, crossing over route two, and passing by uo-no-tana, which I found out later was a rather famous fish market in Japan ,with over a hundred shops selling all kinds of sea food you can possibly imagine. (Not to mention squirming octopuses!)

We arrived at Murphy’s just after 8 o’clock. It was still early and it wasn’t that busy, so we sat at the counter, where I was totally taken aback by the huge selection of spirits, liquors and beers (nearing 400 at last count) the number of different bottles of alcohol on the shelf, from the floor to the ceiling packed 3-4 layers deep of every whiskey, gin, vodka, etc. you could imagine. This place was no ordinary Irish bar!

I ordered a Murphy’ Irish Stout, which I found out later was the only place in Kansai with Murphy’s Stout on draft. The owner of Murphy’s - David Coffey, who seems to be fluent in Kansai ben by the way he converses with the Japanese customers, originally from county Cork in Ireland, came over and introduced himself. He told me Murphy’s was established in December 1993 and is one of the oldest bars in Akashi, and one of the oldest Irish bars in Japan! More trivia for me!

The bar itself has a very cozy and relaxed atmosphere, the interior makes you feel completely at home. As the night progressed it steadily got busier. By 10 o’clock the place was packed and we ended up at a table with about ten other customers whom we had never met before but by the end of the night we were paling around like we were all from the old country. It's easy to see why Murphy's is so popular. The friendly staff and customers, great cocktails, reasonable prices (shots from 500yen, cocktails from 700yen) makes Murphy’s a regular watering hole for countless foreigners and Japanese alike who want to spend a good night out.

Overall, it was a good night out, away from the crowd in Sannomiya and Umeda and the type of bar you know you’d feel welcome even if you are by yourself.

Murphy's Irish Bar, Akashi
Open: 7pm to 3:00am, everyday
8-10min. walk south of Akashi JR Station
www.murphys.kobe.walkerplus.com
Tel: (078) 914-5911

Text: KS • Photos: Courtesy—Murphy's, Kobe