Suntory Toki Whisky and Technics have partnered on Toki-O Nights, a free and ticketed event series running across London, Edinburgh, and Manchester from June to December 2026 that draws on Tokyo’s kissaten listening bar culture as its central reference point.
The series launches on 3 June at Spiritland Kings Cross before spreading across nine venues throughout the rest of the year, with events scheduled on two Wednesdays per month at spaces including Archive & Myth, Bar Shrimp, Caley Bar, Equal Parts, Jazu, Mad Cats, Mitsu, Spiritland, and The Listening Room.
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Technics is curating the musical programme for each event, with vinyl-led DJ sets spanning electronic, jazz, and soul styles performed on the brand’s SL-1200GR2 turntables, with artists including Mari Kimura, Nina Yamada, and Zag Erlat of My Analog Journal confirmed across the series.
Select venues will also host a dedicated listening station, offering a more focused audio environment separate from the main event floor where guests can sit with a Toki Highball and engage with the music at closer range.
Image Credit (Technics)
Beyond the free Wednesday DJ nights, a limited run of ticketed sessions will run alongside the main programme, covering workshops on Japanese vinyl culture and Q&A sessions with Technics audio specialists, giving attendees a closer look at the hardware and craft behind each event.
The kissaten format underpinning the series traces its roots to mid-twentieth century Japan, where dedicated listening bars gave patrons access to high-end audio at a time when personal hi-fi ownership remained broadly inaccessible.
The Toki Japanese Highball serves as the signature drink across all events, with each venue also offering its own riff on the format using Suntory Toki Whisky as the base, meaning the drinks menu will shift in character from venue to venue across the series.
Toki-O Nights is free to attend, though the organisers recommend booking a table directly through each venue given expected demand, with full event details and ticketed session information available at Toki-O Highball website.
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