It was coming up for 2.30am local time when the game wound down. The street cleaners were getting to work on roads that, frankly, already looked spotless. The subway had closed for the night. Tokyo always seems more exciting when the neon lights are throbbing. But now it was time for the sakariba, the city’s liveliest districts, to rest.



At Footnik bar, for instance, with its quotes from Matt Busby and Bill Shankly inside the entrance, a framed note on the wall from the time Ian Callaghan, Liverpool’s record appearance-maker, dropped in for a drink, and its policy that the opening hours depend entirely on the Premier League’s kick-off times.



For a more partisan experience, drinkers could have headed to the Epilogue sports pub, not far from Shibuya crossing, where the owner, Sumio, keeps a replica of the European Cup and puts a sign in the window on match-days saying “Liverpool Fans Only, Kop Only.”



Or how about the 2nd Half bar,...