Hiroshima Whisky Bar｜1,000 Bottles, and a Local Who Knows the City
2026.8.15
Wondering where to drink tonight in Hiroshima?
You’ve come all this way, so you’d rather spend the evening somewhere run by someone with roots here, not a chain.
Plenty of people feel that way.
Hello.
I’m Mika Tanimoto, and I run Bar Little Happiness in Nagarekawa, Hiroshima.
■ Born in Hiroshima, and here ever since
I was born in Hiroshima and grew up here.
Since opening this bar in 2006 at the age of 22, I’ve welcomed a great many guests across this counter, always here in Nagarekawa.
“People from Hiroshima really go deep on things.”
Guests from other parts of Japan say that to me often, and I may not be an exception.
I wanted to send out what I love about whisky and rum from right here in Hiroshima.
That one wish, and before I knew it there were over 1,000 bottles on the back bar.
■ Ask your Hiroshima bartender anything
Guidebooks are fine, but there’s a sense of what Hiroshima is like right now that only someone local can give you.
- “Is there an interesting bottle of Sakurao, the local Hiroshima whisky?”
- “Where do locals actually go to eat well?”
Rather than being steered by online ads and undisclosed sponsorship, I’d like you to eat at the places locals have loved for years. That, to me, is what travel is really for.
First-time visitors and people drinking alone are equally welcome.
As someone born here, I want to send you off glad you came to Hiroshima.
■ And in the end, it comes down to the sheer weight of what’s on the shelves
The whisky and rum I’ve spent my life gathering now brings enthusiasts here from across Japan and around the world.
- “I want to meet a Japanese whisky I don’t know yet.”
- “Something from a Hiroshima craft distillery that I can’t drink anywhere else.”
There are bottles here for exactly that kind of curiosity.
And if whoever you’re with doesn’t know spirits at all, that’s no problem.
I make gentle cocktails with a house lemon-and-honey made from Hiroshima lemons and Hiroshima honey — about as local as it gets.
This room is packed with everything I love. Come and have a glass you could only have in Hiroshima.
■ Leaving a memory of the trip in a glass
I love to travel myself, and I’ve made my way around distilleries across Japan and around the world.
So when you’re somewhere new and want what belongs to that place, I understand the feeling as well as anyone.
Step off the noise of Nagarekawa, up one flight of stairs, and you’re somewhere else entirely — everything in amber.
A perch to rest on mid-journey, kept by someone who grew up in this city. I’ll be glad to see you here.
【Reservations and enquiries】
New arrivals and reservations are handled through our official LINE.
【The bar】
- Bar Little Happiness
- 5-14-1F Nagarekawa-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
- Over 1,000 whiskies and rums / multilingual menu on iPad
