As Japan screamed into the second round of the World Cup with a win over Tunisia on Friday, sports bars in Tokyo lapped up a surge in customers.
Equipped with giant TV monitors, the bars provide people with a sense of unity and excitement outside the stadium, and another excuse to tackle the looming heat with a chilled pint or two. Taking advantage of a World Cup craze sweeping the archipelago, owners of sports bars are hoping to tap into a broader range of customers, not just hard-core sports fans.
A jam-packed crowd of 200 -- mostly Japanese youngsters -- went wild Friday afternoon at the World Sports Cafe Tokyo, in the Shibuya district, as Japan downed Tunisia 2-0 in Osaka to earn its second-round debut.