Best place to party in Toyko and meet girls

The good news about this massive city known for $10 cups of coffee and $200 taxi rides from the airport is that it has more places to get drunk than some states.

Yes, it has jazz clubs with $70 covers and "hostess" clubs that will hit you up for $200 before the girls and drinks arrive. But, if you accept that you'll be paying $8 for a beer and $10 for a shot, the town is manageable. As for wine, wait until you get home. You'll pay 3 times as much for stuff you swear came from a screw-top.

Nightlife options in Japan range from the legendary "hostess" clubs where you can possibly get more than drinks to dive bars which they proudly call "Shot Bars" to the wackiest themed dance clubs. Drinking in the streets is legal almost everywhere.Cans of beer are sold in vending machines.

There's no mandatory last call or closing time. Some bars open up at 5pm for the after-work crowd. Then again, some open at 5am for the after-night crowd. Just stay away from any place with English-speaking doorman trying to lure tourists inside.

Tokyo has many different neighborhoods or districts in which to party. PubClub's local party guide recommended Roppongi. It's friendly to Westerners, known as "gaijin." Many transplants from the US and Europe work there. It's where the Hard Cafe Tokyo is located, and better still (for girls) has Tokyo's newest high-end mall, Roppongi Hills. And guys, it's crammed full of young, well-groomed Japanese women. It also has a some very nice restaurants with bars that serve real Western-style food.

Friday is the best night for going out. At 5pm, huge office towers empty into the streets and bars. Roppongi Crossing becomes like New York's Times Square. If you're looking to pick a meeting spot, the front of Almond (pronounced all-mon-doe) coffee house is the place. It's not a bad spot to talk with someone whose date hasn't shown yet, either.

Although there is a multitude of places to choose from on the main streets, most locals go to the winding side streets. A common goal seems to be finding the smallest possible bar to squeeze into. Some barely hold 30 people. To underscore how densely pack together these places are you may be thinking: "If we don't like this place, we'll go to the one down the hall, upstairs, downstairs or next door."

With taxis outrageously expensive, many people stick to spots in walking distance to home or work. Those who commute in from the suburbs on the trains have a choice come midnight: Catch the last train home or stay out until they start up again at 5:30am. This explains why some bars suddenly lose half their crowd around midnight. Rest assured, those in suits still there aren't going home any time soon.