Shinjuku

My kind of restaurant.

Some places don’t even have stools; you eat and drink standing up. There are usually trains running overhead with shaking and rolling, along with deafening roaring noise until they passed through. But food was cheap and occasionally came with some camaraderie of warmth of humanity.

Things may have changed since I was there quite a few years ago but establishments usually had a red paper lantern outside to invite you in for a spell.

TS

One thing I love about Tokyo is how you can step off a wide, bustling, busy street and...BOOM, you're back in the 50's.

Maybe they are all unemployed but continue to stay out all day pretending that they are going to work each day so they don't shame their family??

Agree with the sentiment of the above posts, but it still stikes me that these guys would rather be here, than at home having dinner with their wife and kids. As long as I live here, I'm not sure I will ever understand that mentality.

Ahhhh Shomben yokocho is one of my favorite places in Tokyo, just a few steps this photo is a ramrn joint(Gifuya) that I have been going to going on around 17yrs now always start there & then hit one of the stick joints, great sitting around & yeah its usually a lot friendlier than other izakaya, recenty while there I got talking with some eldery folks & mentioned I had recently been down to Boso & the old woman casually mentions she dove for sea urchin(uni) for decades down there but retired recently & she said she was 80 if I recall be was genky as hell, incredible place there in Shinjuku a fire years back almost took the whole place out, thabk god it survived & still rocking as I type!!

Maybe they lost their wife, home and dog in the credit crunch - that's why they're forced to eat kabuto-mushi in some back alley.

man I can see by my typos that I am probably still under the influence of my last visit!! Ha ha

Nice antique restaurant, one thing you have to respect the Japanese is the care they took to look after their cultural and traditional relics.

Merry Christmas Japan. It's 10:21pm here on Christmas eve.

That´s one thing I love in Japan; the small akachouchins, the yateis... makes the big city human.

This is Omoede Yokocho, just across the street from Bic Camera, towards Kabuki-cho on Otakibashi-dori. I was just there having Yakitori on Friday about the time this picture was snapped. It is one of the few remaining areas in central Shinjuku that hasn't changed since the war.

Is the guy on the left GAIJIN!? Heaven forbid!

S

Been there, done that, and will do it again. A fantastic way for a quick bite!

Men only? No fun (especially during Christmas time)!

herefornow> "I'm not sure I will ever understand that mentality."

Men are not really welcome at home during hours when they are expected/supposed to be, ah... working? He would be useless there anyway & he might get in the way or upset the family harmony if he tried to interact with the kids.

Piss Alley

Not sure I want to eat in a restaurant called "helmet" which is a well known euphemism in my country.

It looks nice warm cosy clean , not one piece of gomi you can find. 100% Japanese style,and I used to eat a lots of tachikui soba before.

30061015 -- Thanks, I understand that. I just don't "understand" it. Seeing co-workers, colleagues and the like out together on a Friday night for example still gives me pause. In many countries, folks can't wait for the clock to hit 5:00 so they can get home and start the weekend with the family. Here, as you say, the "family" has one harmony, and the man is in a separate, but parallel orbit. Wonder if this will get better or worse with the current recession. Will men be forced to eat at home more due to a cut in their allowances? If so, will that be good or bad for this society?

herefornow, let me tell you how my boss (Japanese) characterized the role of Japanese male in a family: "sperm donor" (he's married and has one child)

This is the kind of place where I'd like to eat, since I live in the country!

I've been here for a long time. I've never entered and eaten at that kind of restaurant. Women do not want to go. I may feel uncomfortable and people sometimes watch each other while eating.

Crowded?!!! do you come from England call anything crowded?

seriously everyone eating is sitting down there are spare chairs and there is only one person near by walking in an empty street.

Good to see old customs surviving in Japan. This would be impossible in the U.S. or the U.K; as people are too obese to be able to sit on stools that size.

I love places like these. Hopefully places like these would survive the turmoil

Kabuto is an old-fashioned helmet worn by the military for centuries and it is simply part of Japanese history and culture. No need to get weird about it. I'm a gal, and just love the coziness of these sorts of places. Please patronize them so they can survive.

Forget the tourist spots, its places like this I look for when I travel :)