izakaya

The word {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} entered the English language by 1987.{{cite news| title= Does English still borrow words from other languages?| url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26014925 | date= 3 February 2014| work= BBC News| access-date= 5 February 2014| quote= Some examples that the Oxford English Dictionary suggests entered English during the past 30 years include ... izakaya, a type of Japanese bar serving food (1987)}} It is a compound word consisting of {{Transliteration|ja|iru}} ("to stay") and {{Transliteration|ja|sakaya}} ("sake shop"), indicating that {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} originated from sake shops that allowed customers to sit on the premises to drink.{{cite book|year=1984|author=Hiroshi Kondō|title=Saké: a drinker's guide|url=https://archive.org/details/sakedrinkersguid00kond/page/112|isbn=978-0-87011-653-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/sakedrinkersguid00kond/page/112 112]|publisher=Kodansha International |quote=Literally translated, the word izakaya means a 'sit-down sake shop.'|url-access=registration}} {{Transliteration|ja|Izakaya}} are sometimes called {{Transliteration|ja|akachōchin}} ('red lantern') in daily conversation, as such paper lanterns are traditionally found in front of them.

File:Taipei izakaya in 1951.jpg

Anecdotes and songs that appear in the {{Transliteration|ja|Kojiki}} show that {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}}-style establishments existed in Japan at the early 700s.{{citation needed|reason=Japanese Wikipedia is not a reference(!)|date=September 2021}} There is a record dating to 733 when rice was collected as a brewing fee tax under the jurisdiction of the government office called {{Transliteration|ja|Miki no Tsukasa}}. In the {{Transliteration|ja|Shoku Nihongi}}, written in 797, there is a record of King Ashihara who got drunk and was murdered in a tavern in 761.{{citation needed|reason=Japanese Wikipedia is not a reference(!)|date=September 2021}}

The full-scale development of {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} began around the Edo period (1603–1867). At liquor stores that used to sell alcohol by weight, people began to drink alcohol while standing. Gradually, some {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} began using sake barrels as stools for their customers,{{cite book|last1=Rowthorn|first1=Chris|title=Japan|date=15 September 2010|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74220-353-9|page=88|language=en}} and gradually began to offer simple snacks called {{Transliteration|ja|sakana}}.「飲食事典」本山荻舟　平凡社　p29　昭和33年12月25日発行 Historian Penelope Francks points to the development of the {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} in Japan, especially in Edo and along main roads throughout the country, as one indicator of the growing popularity of sake as a consumer good by the late 1700s.{{cite journal|first=Penelope|last=Francks|doi=10.1017/S0021911809000035|title=Inconspicuous Consumption: Sake, Beer, and the Birth of the Consumer in Japan|journal=Journal of Asian Studies|volume=68|issue=1|publisher=Association for Asian Studies|date=February 2009|pages=156–157|via=Cambridge University Press}}

An {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} in Tokyo made international news in 1962 when Robert F. Kennedy ate there during a meeting with Japanese labor leaders.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4124545/robert_f_kennedy_visits_an_izakaya_in/ "Bobby Regales Japanese with Song Rendition"] Monroe Morning World (6 February 1962): 11. via Newspapers.com {{open access}}

{{Transliteration|ja|Izakaya}} and other small pubs or establishments are exempted from an indoor smoking ban that was passed by the National Diet in July 2018 and fully enforced since April 2020.{{cite web |title=Japan's watered-down smoking ban clears Diet |website=Japan Times |date=July 18, 2018 |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/18/national/crime-legal/japans-watered-smoking-ban-clears-diet/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831091142/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/18/national/crime-legal/japans-watered-smoking-ban-clears-diet/ |archive-date=August 31, 2021}}

File:Uoshin Nogizaka 03 (15579480298).jpg

{{Transliteration|ja|Izakaya}} are often likened to taverns or pubs, but there are a number of differences.{{cite news|last1=Moskin|first1=Julia|title=Soaking Up the Sake|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/dining/at-izakayas-japanese-food-gets-informal.html|access-date=19 March 2015|work=The New York Times|date=9 April 2013|ref=NYTimes}}{{cite news|last1=Coghlan|first1=Adam|title=Introducing izakaya: the new breed of casual Japanese restaurant|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/introducing-izakaya-the-new-breed-of-casual-japanese-restaurant-9176067.html|access-date=19 March 2015|work=London Evening Standard}}{{cite news|last1=Phelps|first1=Caroline|title=The Advent of Izakayas|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caroline-phelps/izakaya_b_2377768.html?|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=19 March 2015|date=2 January 2013}}

Depending on the {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}}, customers either sit on tatami mats and dine from low tables, as in the traditional Japanese style, or sit on chairs and dine from tables. Many {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} offer a choice of both as well as seating by the bar. Some {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} restaurants are also {{Transliteration|ja|tachi-nomi}} style, literally translated as "drinking while standing".{{cite news|last1=Swinnerton|first1=Robbie|title=Standing Firm For Tradition|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2005/12/09/food/standing-firm-for-tradition/#.WBMGt-F97eQ|work=Japan Times|access-date=28 October 2016|date=9 December 2005}}

Usually, customers are given an {{Transliteration|ja|oshibori}} (wet towel) to clean their hands; the towels are cold in summer and hot in winter. Next, a tiny appetizer, called an {{Transliteration|ja|otōshi}} in the Tokyo area or {{Transliteration|ja|tsukidashi}} in the Osaka-Kobe area, is served.{{cite book|last1=Mente|first1=Boye De|last2=Ment|first2=Demetra De|title=The Bizarre and the Wondrous from the Land of the Rising Sun!|date=22 December 2010 |publisher=Cultural-Insight Books|isbn=978-1-4564-2475-6|page=32|language=en}} It is local custom and usually charged onto the bill in lieu of an entry fee.

The menu may be on the table, displayed on walls, or both. Picture menus are common in larger {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}}. Food and drink are ordered throughout the course of the session as desired. They are brought to the table, and the bill is added up at the end of the session. Unlike other Japanese styles of eating, food items are usually shared by everyone at the table, similar to Spanish tapas.

Common styles of {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} dining in Japan are {{Transliteration|ja|nomi-hōdai}} ("all you can drink") and {{Transliteration|ja|tabe-hōdai}} ("all you can eat"). For a set price per person, customers can continue ordering as much food and/or drink as they wish, usually with a time limit of two or three hours.

{{Transliteration|ja|Izakaya}} dining can be intimidating to non-Japanese because of the wide variety of menu items and the slow pace. Food is normally ordered slowly over several courses rather than all at once. The kitchen will serve the food when it is ready, rather than in the formal courses of Western restaurants. Typically, a beer is ordered when one is sitting down before perusing the menu. Quickly prepared dishes such as {{Transliteration|ja|hiyayakko}} or edamame are ordered first, followed with progressively more robust flavors such as {{Transliteration|ja|yakitori}} or {{Transliteration|ja|karaage}}, finishing the meal with a rice or noodle dish to fill up.[http://kampai.us/izakayas/how-to-izakaya How to Izakaya – Kampai! : Kampai!]. Kampai.us. Retrieved 24 May 2014.

File:Izakayastylemenu-dec-2012.svg

{{Transliteration|ja|Izakaya}} offer a wide variety of dishes. Items typically available are:{{cite book|last1=Mente|first1=Boye Lafayette De|title=Dining Guide to Japan: Find the right restaurant, order the right dish, and pay the right price!|date=20 December 2011|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-0317-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpDTAgAAQBAJ&q=Izakaya&pg=PT74|access-date=25 January 2016|language=en}}{{cite book|last1=Alt|first1=Matt|last2=Yoda|first2=Hiroko|last3=Joe|first3=Melinda|title=Frommer's Japan Day by Day|date=27 March 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-90826-6|page=263|language=en}}

• Sake, a Japanese alcoholic beverage made by fermenting polished rice
• Beer ({{Transliteration|ja|biiru}}){{cite web|url=http://www.myajc.com/news/entertainment/dining/long-menu-big-pleasures-at-ginya-izakaya/np5xb/|title=Long menu, big pleasures at Ginya Izakaya | publisher=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=21 January 2016|author=Williams, Wyatt}}
• {{Transliteration|ja|Shōchū}}
• Cocktails
• Sour mix ({{Transliteration|ja|sawā}})
• {{Transliteration|ja|Chūhai}}
• Wine
• Whisky

Some establishments offer a bottle-keep service, allowing a patron to purchase an entire bottle of liquor (usually {{Transliteration|ja|shōchū}} or whisky) and store the unfinished portion for a future visit.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbTC67rFfJsC&q=%22bottle+keep%22&pg=PA42|title=Tuttle New Dictionary of Loanwords in Japanese: A User's Guide to Gairaigo|first=Taeko |last=Kamiya|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|year= 1994|isbn=0804818886|page=42|quote=botoru kiipu ボトルキープ [Japanese Usage: bottle keep] a system in which one buys a bottle of liquor to be kept at bar }}

{{Main|Sakana}}

File:Karaage frittiertes Hühnchen.jpg}}]]

File:Beer and edamame (boild green soybeans).jpg and a cold Japanese beer]]

{{Transliteration|ja|Izakaya}} food is usually more substantial than tapas or mezze. Many items are designed to be shared. Menu items may include:

• Edamame{{snds}}boiled and salted soybean pods
• {{Transliteration|ja|Goma-ae}}{{snds}}various vegetables served with a sesame dressing{{cite news|last1=Kauffman|first1=Jonathan|title=What Exactly Is an Izakaya? An Interview with Umamimart's Yoko Kumano|url=http://www.sfweekly.com/foodie/2011/02/23/what-exactly-is-an-izakaya-an-interview-with-umamimarts-yoko-kumano|access-date=28 January 2016|work=SF Weekly|date=23 February 2011|archive-date=1 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201111847/http://www.sfweekly.com/foodie/2011/02/23/what-exactly-is-an-izakaya-an-interview-with-umamimarts-yoko-kumano|url-status=dead}}
• {{Transliteration|ja|Karaage}}{{snds}}bite-sized fried chicken
• {{Transliteration|ja|Kushiyaki}}{{snds}}grilled meat or vegetable skewers
• Salads
• Sashimi{{snds}}slices of raw fish
• {{Transliteration|ja|Tebasaki}}{{snds}}chicken wings
• Tofu
• {{Transliteration|ja|Agedashi dōfu}}{{snds}}deep-fried tofu in broth
• {{Transliteration|ja|Hiyayakko}}{{snds}}chilled silken tofu with toppings
• {{Transliteration|ja|Tsukemono}}{{snds}}pickles
• {{Transliteration|ja|Yakisoba}}{{snds}}grilled noodles
• {{Transliteration|ja|Yakitori}}{{snds}}grilled chicken skewers

Rice dishes such as {{Transliteration|ja|ochazuke}} and noodle dishes such as {{Transliteration|ja|yakisoba}} are sometimes eaten to conclude a drinking session. For the most part, Japanese {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} customers do not eat rice or noodles ({{Transliteration|ja|shushoku}}{{snds}}"staple food") at the same time as they drink alcohol, since sake, brewed from rice, traditionally takes the place of rice in a meal.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

{{Transliteration|ja|Izakaya}} were traditionally down-to-earth places where men drank sake and beer after work.{{cite web|last1=Kosukegawa|first1=Yoichi|title='Izakaya' are more than just plain pubs|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/03/07/national/izakaya-are-more-than-just-plain-pubs/|website=Japan Times|access-date=26 January 2016|language=en-US|date=7 March 2008}} However, modern {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} customers are more likely to include independent women and students. Many {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} today cater to a more diverse clientele by offering cocktails and wines and a sophisticated interior. Chain {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} are often large and offer an extensive selection of food and drink, allowing them to host big, sometimes rowdy, parties. Watami, Shoya, Shirokiya, Tsubohachi, and Murasaki are some of the well known chains in Japan.{{cite web|title=Japanese Izakaya|date=16 September 2011 |url=http://www.essential-japan-guide.com/japanese-izakaya/|publisher=essential-japan-guide.com|access-date=25 January 2016}}

File:Cyochin2.jpg {{Transliteration|ja|"Izakaya"}} written on it]]

File:Izakaya Tokyo.JPG}} (center)]]

{{Transliteration|ja|Izakaya}} are often called {{Transliteration|ja|akachōchin}} ("red lantern"), after the red paper lanterns traditionally displayed outside. Today, the term usually refers to small, non-chain {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}}.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} Some unrelated businesses that are not {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} also sometimes display red lanterns.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZUdBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 | title=Drinking Japan: A Guide to Japan's Best Drinks and Drinking Establishments | publisher=Tuttle Publishing |last=Bunting |first=Chris | year=2014 | page=20 | isbn=978-1-4629-0627-7}}

Cosplay {{Transliteration|ja|izakaya}} became popular in the 2000s. The staff wear costumes and wait on customers. In some establishments, shows are performed. Costumes include those for butlers and maids.{{cite web|title=izakaya – a new trend or a lasting option?|url=http://oysterfoodandculture.com/2011/07/izakaya-a-new-trend-or-a-lasting-option/|website=Oyster Food and Culture|access-date=25 January 2016|language=en-US|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225120511/http://oysterfoodandculture.com/2011/07/izakaya-a-new-trend-or-a-lasting-option/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Step Out of the Vegie Patch in a Pair of Onion Tights|url=http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/05/11/step-out-of-the-vegie-patch-in-a-pair-of-onion-tights/|website=RocketNews24|access-date=25 January 2016|archive-date=26 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126121038/http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/05/11/step-out-of-the-vegie-patch-in-a-pair-of-onion-tights/|url-status=dead}}

Establishments specialising in {{Transliteration|ja|oden}} are called {{Transliteration|ja|oden-ya}}. They usually take the form of street stalls with seating and are popular in winter.

{{Transliteration|ja|Robatayaki}} are places in which customers sit around an open hearth on which chefs grill seafood and vegetables. Fresh ingredients are displayed for customers to point at whenever they want to order.

{{Transliteration|ja|Yakitori-ya}} specialise in {{Transliteration|ja|yakitori}}, grilled chicken skewers.{{cite book|last1=Bender|first1=Andrew|last2=Yanagihara|first2=Wendy|title=Tokyo|year=2006|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74059-876-7|page=39|language=en}} The chicken skewers are often grilled in front of customers.

File:Asakusa_-_panoramio_-_Ryuetsu_Kato.jpg|{{Transliteration|ja|Oden}} street stall on the grounds of Sensō-ji in Asakusa

File:Robatayaki.jpg|Activity at a {{Transliteration|ja|robatayaki}}. Seafood and vegetables to cook displayed

File:Typical yakitori 001.jpg|Chicken skewers ({{Transliteration|ja|yakitori}})

• Cuisine of Japan
• List of public house topics
• Ramen shop
• {{Transliteration|ja|Sunakku}}
• Kafana

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|title={{nihongo|桃太郎侍|Momotarō-zamurai}}|work=Kokumin no Bungaku, color edition|volume=16|last1=Yamate|first1=Kiichirō|date=20 December 1957|publisher=Kawadeshobō|language=ja}}
• {{cite book|title=Izakaya Chōji|author=Yamaguchi Hitomi|publisher=Shinchōsha|year=1982|language=ja}}
• {{cite book|title=Onihei hankachō II|last=Ikenami|first=Shōtarō|volume=5|work=Kanpon Ikenami Shōtarō Taisei|publisher=Kōdansha|edition=reprint|language=ja|year=2011}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.jidaigeki.com/ru10/ikenami/|title=Ikenami Shōtarō and Film Noir|author1=Nihon Eiga Eisei Kabushikigaisha|author2=Shōchiku|publisher=Fuji Television|year=2013|language=ja|access-date=5 February 2016}}

• Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook (2008) by Mark Robinson, photographs by Masashi Kuma, {{ISBN|978-4-7700-3065-8}}, Kodansha International
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jbbkgg5Z2X0C Izakaya: Japanese Bar Food] (Hardie Grant Publishing 2012), photographs by Chris Chen. {{ISBN|978-1-74270-042-7}}.
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=R2oMrgEACAAJ Izakaya] by Hideo Dekura (New Holland Publishers 2015). {{ISBN|978-1-74257-525-4}}.

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