Yakoboku
Kumamoto, Japan
ASIA'S50 BEST2026ASIA'S50 BEST2025ASIA'S50 BEST2024
No. 25 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025. Asia's 50 Best Bars: No. 59 (2026), No. 64 (2024) and No. 84 (2023) on the 51-100 list.
A 15-seat bar in central Kumamoto, fronted by a cypress wall that rotates open onto the street and finished inside in plain wood. Owner Shinya Koba builds the list around Kyushu produce, including house-made amaro, regional citrus and shochu, in cocktails such as a Kyushu Old Fashioned made with haze tree wax and a shochu-based riff on the espresso martini. The name refers to the night-blooming jasmine.
