• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

  • Photowalks
  • Book and Prints
  • Portfolio
  • About/Contact
  • Support
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • RSS

Jan 20 2021 10 Comments

7 minutes in the life of a 70-year-old Tokyo restaurant

Not many restaurants are as photogenic as the one below, so it was hardly a chore to stand outside for a short time and record the comings and goings of its last minute lunchtime customers. Then later, when looking back at the time stamps, there was 7 minutes between the first and last photos — a tally of 7 shots in total. And as a nice, extra bit of synchronism, it turns out that the eatery in question has been in operation for 70 years.

70-year-old Tokyo restaurant

70-year-old Tokyo restaurant

70-year-old Tokyo restaurant

70-year-old Tokyo restaurant

70-year-old Tokyo restaurant

70-year-old Tokyo restaurant

70-year-old Tokyo restaurant

Categorized: Food and Drink, Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carl says

    1/20/2021 at 11:15 am

    I’ve gotta agree that sure is one good looking restaurant.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      1/20/2021 at 7:38 pm

      Yeah, it really is. Pretty much perfect.

      Reply
  2. Coli says

    1/20/2021 at 3:53 pm

    Lovely set of pictures! I especially like the 5th and 7th. Hopefully this place can see another 70 years with sandaime or yondaime.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      1/20/2021 at 7:43 pm

      Thanks a lot! Probably 5th and 6th for me. But yeah, let’s hope so. The fella taking the noren in is presumably the son of the current master, so looking good for what I assume will be sandaime.

      Reply
  3. Matthias says

    1/20/2021 at 6:19 pm

    Wow… such a nice set. I’ve made a rule for myself: always look at TokyoTimes on a big display.
    On a phone display, I might miss these details… such as “Fighter by Day, Lover by Night” on pic. 2.
    Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      1/20/2021 at 7:47 pm

      Thank you! And you are very welcome. Good to hear about your rule too. Definitely more to see on the bigger screen — even unexpected slogans on jackets!

      Reply
  4. Once an Expat says

    1/20/2021 at 9:07 pm

    The place must have quite a rep: No display of the restaurant’s offerings in the front window to entice a passerby in.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      1/20/2021 at 9:44 pm

      Ah, good call. Hadn’t thought about that. Absolutely nothing at all except the sign. So yeah, it really must have a good reputation. Regulars and word-of-mouth presumably making up the bulk of their custom.

      Reply
  5. cdilla says

    1/20/2021 at 9:12 pm

    Thats a very nice set of photographs capturing the age and traditional nature of the establishment and the everydayness of the clientel.
    Nice too that the place looks well tended, has a youngun to take over and has already been around 60 years!
    My favourite selection is the one with the noren swishing as a spirit of good fortune, Inari perhaps, swings by in approval.

    (How about doing a timelapse of the queue outside Tomato :-))

    Reply
    • Lee says

      1/20/2021 at 9:49 pm

      Cheers. Yeah, it is clearly very well looked after. No doubt a fair amount of thought went into placing that plant in what was the perfect spot too.

      It wasn’t an especially windy day, so the moment the noren was gently blown like that was lovely.

      Haha, maybe one day. Probably more likely than actually getting in there to eat anyway!

      Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Tokyo Times