Mika Tanimoto — Owner of Bar Little Happiness

Mika Tanimoto — Owner of Bar Little Happiness

Mika Tanimoto is the founder and owner-bartender of Bar Little Happiness, a whisky and rum specialty bar in Nagarekawa, Naka-ku, Hiroshima. Born and raised in Hiroshima, she founded the bar in 2006 at the age of 22, and over the past 20 years has grown it into a specialist bar with a collection of more than 1,000 bottles. In her own words, below.

From a Corner of a Parking Lot, at 22

After graduating from university, I took a job as an assistant director at a television station, but soon felt it wasn’t right for me and left. While working as a temp, a chance connection led me to rent a corner of a parking lot in Hiroshima’s Nagarekawa district, where I opened a tiny café-bar with the one million yen I’d saved from my student part-time jobs.

Back then, I could barely drink, and I knew nothing about running a business. I worked as a temp by day and opened my own bar by night — the very picture of the “working poor.” In the middle of that anxiety — when I didn’t even know what it was that I didn’t know — I found a bartending school in the phone book and started learning, beginning with how to shake a cocktail shaker.

Before long, at a nearby bar, I came across something called “whisky.” For someone who could hardly drink at all, its aroma and the depth of its history shook me to the core for the very first time. That moment is what opened the path to the bar I run today.

A Conviction Reached Through Countless Conversations with Makers

Over these 20 years, I’ve moved back and forth between the bar counter — the guests right in front of me — and the places where these spirits are born: the home of whisky in Scotland, the rum distilleries of the Caribbean, Cardrona in New Zealand, and craft distilleries all across Japan. Through countless conversations with the people who make them, I’ve arrived at one conviction: both whisky and rum become even more delicious the moment you connect with the maker’s heart.

Traditions passed down through generations, philosophies held to even against the current of the times, an almost stubborn devotion to craft — these works are crystallized over decades, and I see my role simply as the “filter” that carries them to the person raising the glass.

Giving Back: Building a Health Clinic in Ghana (2012)

In 2012, on the bar’s seventh anniversary, I wanted to give some shape to my gratitude for all the connections that had carried me that far. Through the NPO Plan International Japan, we built a CHPS compound (a community health post) in a rural part of Ghana, in the Gbal community of the Upper West Region.

Before it was built, the roughly 2,000 residents of five surrounding communities had to travel 40 km to the district capital for medical care. The finished facility has an examination room, an office, a kitchen, a storage room, a waiting area, and restrooms, and a motorcycle was provided for the community health worker. It continues to help improve maternal and infant mortality rates. At the opening ceremony, my photo and a message were displayed on the wall of the building.

An Honest, Democratic Way of Serving

I’ve chosen not to keep the kind of uniform, efficiency-first lineup you might find elsewhere. Every bottle is clearly marked with its price and a short description, so anyone — whether a regular or here for the first time — can order any bottle they like. There’s no cover charge, and our digital menu in eight languages means guests from overseas can relax and enjoy themselves naturally. I run the main bar on my own, and I try to welcome a first-time visitor with the same warmth as a regular.

Whisky and Rum: A Rare “Dual-Path” Bar

I’ve also gone deep into the world of rum — meeting New Grove from Mauritius was the turning point — and since 2015, Little Happiness has been something still quite rare in Japan: a bar specializing in both whisky and rum. The back bar holds around 900 whiskies and 300 rums, more than 1,000 bottles in all, from rare and hard-to-find labels to local Hiroshima drams like Sakurao. The heavy wooden door, made to evoke a whisky maturation warehouse, and the little heart-shaped window I designed by hand at 24, are how you’ll know the place.

In 2026, at the invitation of the internationally renowned whisky blender Ian Chang, we’ll be hosting a special tasting event at Bar Little Happiness (July 4, 2026).

Philosophy: Deciding to “Only Do What I Find Beautiful”

In 2025, as the bar approached its 20th anniversary, I looked back on all these years and realized something. I wanted to meet my guests’ expectations. I wanted to meet the expectations of the staff working with me. As an owner, I felt I had to be “correct.” Trying to be sincere toward each of those, I’d spent years shaping Little Happiness to fit things outside myself — and somewhere along the way, I’d left my own heart behind.

Visiting the Osaka–Kansai Expo several times, I found myself deeply moved by the idea that simply to exist is, in itself, a kind of generosity toward others. It led me to a quiet conviction: that expressing the world I find beautiful is, in the end, what reaches the most people’s hearts.

However far AI and technology may advance, I don’t believe anything can replace the beauty of sharing time over a glass in the same room. If anything, the more digital the world becomes, the more precious that time feels.

Awards & Media

🏆 Hiroshima City Master Craftsperson Award

📺 Television: BS Fuji “Whiskypedia” (2023, Sakurao Distillery episode)

📚 Books: “The Wonderful Bible of Bars and Whisky,” “The Japanese Craft Whisky Reader,” “Wakako Zake Vol. 13”

📰 Newspapers: Chugoku Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Daily Sports Hiroshima, and others

🥃 Industry magazines: Suntory Whisky Voice (2011), Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce Bulletin (2018), Hiroshima Economic Report (ongoing since 2008), and others

Distilleries Visited

What I treasure most is knowing, firsthand, the people who make the bottles I serve. I visit distilleries in Japan and around the world, and share those experiences in my column, “Notes on Whisky and Rum.” The distilleries and producers I’ve visited include:

[Japanese Whisky]
Sakurao, Saburomaru, Kameda, Chichibu, Komoro, Setouchi, Okayama, Tsunuki, Komagatake, Kanosuke, Yamazaki, Hakushu, Yoichi, Miyagikyo, Asaka, Eigashima, Fuji Gotemba, Gaiaflow Shizuoka, Ikawa, Helios

[Japanese Rum]
Helios, Ie Island, Umayado, Nine Leaves

[Scotch Whisky – Islay]
Caol Ila, Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Kilchoman, Lagavulin, Bruichladdich, Bowmore, Bunnahabhain

[Scotch Whisky – Other Regions]
Macallan, Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, Aberlour, Glenlivet, GlenDronach, GlenAllachie, BenRiach, Glen Grant, Glen Elgin, Strathisla, Strathmill, Glen Moray, Speyburn, Longmorn, Balvenie, Glenburgie, Linkwood, Craigellachie, Glenlossie, Aultmore, Mortlach, Clynelish, Glenturret, Edradour, Glenmorangie, Balblair, Old Pulteney, Blair Athol, Dailuaine, Auchentoshan, GlenWyvis

[Other Whisky]
Kavalan (Taiwan), Cardrona (New Zealand), Rifters (New Zealand)

[Rum]
Laodi (Laos); Clément, La Favorite, JM, Depaz, Saint James, HSE, Neisson, A1710, La Mauny (Martinique); Damoiseau, Père Labat, Papa Rouyo, Montebello (Guadeloupe)

Store Information

Address: 5-14-1F Nagarekawa-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Hours: Mon–Sat 19:00–24:30 / Sun 19:00–24:00
No cover charge
Menu: Digital menu in eight languages (with photos and prices)
Instagram: @littlehappiness7

Slàinte from Nagarekawa-cho.