A Walk Through An Iconic Japanese Cuisine…

A visit to any part of Japan will undoubtedly include wandering down narrow streets filled with colorful signs like these: inviting you in for a nice meal and cold drink!

Welcome To The Delicious World Of “Izakaya!”

I found this photo online, simply titled “classic Tokyo Izakaya”, and it certainly is: like an English pub or any US bar & grill, these are gathering spots for locals to have a tasty and traditional bite to eat – food like this:

So What Is Served At An Izakaya?

Izakaya offer a wide range of foods. Here are dishes that are available at most Izakaya: sashimi platters, karaage(fried chicken), yakisoba noodles and edamame (green pod soybeans), plus all sorts of grilled meat skewers, which pair well with beer and sake.

Some of those grilled items will include chicken hearts, kidneys and more – and they are incredibly smoky and delicious! So why am I going on and on about the magic of Izakaya? Because disaster is unfolding!

Between January and November last year, 203 izakaya operators declared bankruptcy, exceeding the 189 recorded in the whole of 2020, according to Teikoku Databank, which offers financial and research support services.

Here’s what the report found:

“While many people celebrated the end of pandemic restrictions by resuming regular nights out with colleagues and friends, a significant proportion continue to socially distance preferring cheaper nights at home.

Economic factors have also dealt a blow to the izakaya sector. Cash-strapped consumers are ordering fewer items, while restaurateurs wrestle with higher costs for materials, energy and labour.“

Here’s a local Izakaya we visited – check out the cooking underway:

Back in Japan, reports say that about 40% of izakaya were losing money in the 12 months to April last year, according to Teikoku, with more attempting to stay afloat by reinventing themselves as cafes and fast-food outlets.

This would be a very sad ending if Izakayas can’t find a way to survive without becoming fast-food stores…see the entire story at The Guardian here:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/18/japan-legendary-izakaya-closing-costs-declining-demand

As for my meal, it was a delicious mix of grilled skewers like this:

It’s fun to pick a bunch of different dishes and have fun, with an icy cold beer to help!

In fact, it was so much fun I decided to make a meal of it at home myself!

I made Japanese Izakaya as part of my “52 In 22” cooking challenge, when my wife Alex had me cook a new dish from a different cookbook we owned each week for a year!

See everything I make for my Izakaya meal here:

Alex and I ate at a number of Izakayas while we were in Tokyo, and had unique dishes like this:

This grilled “Ayu” fish is a delicacy in Japan – and I got to eat it at a 3 Michelin-star restaurant there!

Click here to see how it turned out!

And Alex and I also went to a restaurant in Tokyo where the Chefs not only cooked us an amazing meal – but performed for us as well!

See our meal and the music here:

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As for my “52 Cookbooks 52 Recipes” challenge, I shared and stored all of the recipes on my food website “Bite! Eat! Repeat!” – it’s your site for all things food – if you like what you see, please click on my link and follow this blog as well!

https://biteeatrepeat.com

Here’s hoping that the people of Japan step up to save this classic style of pub dining in their country!

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Categories: cookbooks, Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Food Review, Japan, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Restaurants, Tokyo!, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food

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