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In England, a place to go after work and relax with friends is a Public House or Pub; in the U.S., there is the Corner Bar; and in France there is the Sidewalk Cafe. All of these establishments sell food and drinks and serve as informal and enjoyable places for adults to gather and socialize. There also are similar tavern-like places in Japan, called: IZAKAYA (居酒屋), which have been around for centuries. The literal meaning of the IZAKAYA kanji characters is: "居/Stay + 酒/Sake (rice wine) + 屋/Shop", and it can best be described as a casual drinking restaurant, where, in addition to alcoholic beverages, a variety of small dishes of food (like tapas in Spain) can be ordered by customers seated at counters or around tables. IZAKAYAs are places where groups of friends or co-workers will gather, starting in the late-afternoon hours, and the atmosphere is lively and animated -- not a place to go for a quiet drink. Some IZAKAYAs offer special "all-you-can-drink" (飲み放題・NOMI-HO-DAI) plans, which tend to last for 90~120 minutes. The large franchise/chain IZAKAYA have menus which are filled with colorful pictures, making it easy to order food and drinks. There are also the smaller, traditional IZAKAYAs, where the menu is displayed by kanji characters hand-written onto small papers pinned to the wall. There are many good IZAKAYAs located in the Yokosuka City and Miura Peninsula areas, and in future articles we will introduce some of them to you. We hope you will have a chance to enjoy the friendly "pub culture" of Japan.

written by Goodfield