Name: Behind the Counter at a Japanese Father & Daughter Izakaya Restaurant
Uploaded: 2025-06-18T18:03:19.000Z
Duration: 16 min 45 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Adverbs of degree

This is behind the counter at a traditional Japanese izakaya So today i'm in tokyo's shibuya area and i'm taking you to this shop just behind me It's a fourth generation okonomiyaki shop that also serves as an izakaya So i'm starting a little bit later than usual, but this place doesn't open up until the evening So this should be a good time.

Sentences with advanced comparative

Let's see what the owners are doing now Today i'm taking you deep into the kitchen at taria a japanese father and daughter run traditional style teppanyaki okonomiyaki Izakaya aka drinking restaurant that's been around for almost a hundred years It's tucked away in hyakkendana a hidden little area between dogenzaka and bunkamura Once the busiest part of tokyo shibuya area back in the day before 109 and even famous gravel crossing ever existed The shop has a warm homey vibe often found in japan's countryside and today we'll get a rare glimpse at how this family Has kept their business running for generations Hello nice to meet you Oh This is the fourth generation owner shito-san responsible for running the business as well as serving their customers What time did you come in today?

Not bad, what time did you get off last night?

Oh, that's late So do you work every day Shigoto And what do you do on your days off Nice how old Apparently her husband does administrative work for multiple companies So their kid goes to nursery school during the day and her mom helps out with drop-off and pickup when they're extra busy quite common in japan Hi How long have you been working here Oh, that's a long time He's a third generation owner and the father of shito-san after taking over the shop from his mother He poured his heart and soul into keeping this family business running these days He's mainly responsible for the kitchen alongside his younger brother who will join us a little later in the day So what do you do on your days off Awesome so for you what's been the most important thing when running a business Foreign True and did you think that your daughter would eventually take over?

Oh, no, that's kind of sad Was this shop your plan all along It's only She says she started helping out during covid with applying for government support and raising funds And that's when she realized the shop might not survive without her So she decided to quit her job and work here full-time to carry on her family's legacy from then on She started helping make improvements like installing a western toilet and a card payment system as before They only accepted cash using an abacus to run the totals at the same time She made sure to preserve the shop's nostalgic charm that the regulars have come to love.

Hey are these pictures of this area Foreign Wow, that's amazing So shibuya used to be a quiet neighborhood before and it was only until 1924 When the hyakken dana area was built.

It soon became the hottest place in shibuya sadly though in 1945 the entire area including this shop was reduced to rubble due to air raids in tokyo The shop was later rebuilt and over many decades this area experienced many transformations and shito-san's family along with their shop Grew along with it.

She also has fond memories of her childhood in this very tatami room while her parents worked And maybe it's one of the reasons why she just couldn't let the shop's deeply woven shibuya history come to an end Nice he's preparing the ingredients for the shop's okonomiyaki dish apparently tonight They're having a special kashikiri reserved private party event instead of regular customer seating He needs to make enough for all of the tables.

So he has his work cut out for him Luckily since it's a course meal he can get started earlier The ingredients look so fresh apparently they don't rely on vendor deliveries But source their ingredients directly at the market carefully selected one by one In fact when it's in season shito-san goes all the way to okayama to meet with professional oyster harvesters to gather their stock Hi Cool that's a kaidan bond a paper notice that gets passed from neighbor to neighbor.

It's still a thing in japan Shita-san, what'd you get?

In japan Non-alcoholic drinks that taste just like the real thing are quite popular so you can find various kinds of brands In fact around 44% of japanese genetically can't process alcohol So alcohol-free options have become a must especially for people who still want to participate in japan's drinking culture This coke machine is so retro Wow nowadays they use it as a fridge I love it.

It's This sounds like a fun workplace, so what's your poison?

Can't argue with that Now We prepare the batter for the okonomiyaki also known as dodo in japanese okonomiyaki is a savory japanese pancake Typically cooked on a teppan grill and interestingly It actually started as a simple kids a pancake snack after the war during japanese poverty-stricken years People started adding cheap ingredients to make it more filling and it quickly evolved into this hearty dish We know today each shop having its own style and take on it and here they add Nagaimo yam and finally chopped cabbage to create a smoother texture Oh, what is it?

Sounds delicious Oh, what are you drinking?

Ah old school did he always drink and smoke while working?

So when you were a kid, did you think you'd work here?

Oh He says that although he lives in a different house now when he was a kid his family lived here in a one-story house With a restaurant inside many years later.

It is now Japan Did you have any dreams growing up What really He says that those houses were super nice and spacious while his house didn't have a washing machine Bathroom or even a toilet Foreign Wow times have changed what was life like back then He says he was raised by a single mother who also ran this shop Although she was incredibly busy and they had financial struggles their family always found a way to stay close And mostly remembers the fun and happy times growing up One of the workers is here I guess she starts by refilling and cleaning the table condiments So how long have you been working here?

How did you find this job Cool what did you do before this?

Communication Oh, do you go drinking after work?

In this area Oh, they have a bunch of izakayas over there too, right?

Oh, that's crackin level drinking they often drink together lose track of time and end up drinking until morning before going home I don't know It must be fun working with a good friend You mean both of you Nice he's now making their makanai the shop provided meal for everyone Thank you That's shito-san's uncle her dad's younger brother Hello In japan's food industry workers say good morning at any time of the day when they start their shift Even though it's late in the day like now at 5 p.m Hey, so before we continue what I want to give a quick shout out to the sponsor of this video squarespace Now if you don't already know squarespace is the number one way to build your online presence In fact, I use squarespace for my website tokyo zebra Here are just some of the reasons why I love using squarespace so much First of all, i've been promoting squarespace on this channel for years now and let's be honest They still haven't let me down and as the internet has evolved over the years So has squarespace as they use cutting-edge design tools such as their blueprint ai and ai Enhanced website builder to get a fully custom website in just a few steps making it easy for beginners No matter where you start squarespace is so flexible with intuitive drag and drop editing beautiful styling options, etc And like I said, no experience is required Also, if you want built-in analytics squarespace has you covered want to sell content online with a payment system Squarespace has you covered want to make your dream website today?

So there you go Go to squarespace.com today for your free trial when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com Forward slash paolo from tokyo and get 10% off your first domain or website 30 minutes before open everyone eats their makanai meal.

Ah makes sense  Now he prepares the yakiniku plates The meat is marinated with their original tare sauces each one specifically blended for each type of meat It smells so good Now The shop's finally open And the customers who reserve the entire restaurant are already here The shop says that it doesn't regularly get one party reserving the entire restaurant But apparently their tables do often get fully booked.

So most of their customers make advanced reservations via email or igtm So is it easier to prepare course meals?

So I can imagine Since all the customers arrived all at once shito-san and her friend must work quickly to take and serve all of the drink orders It's quite a task, but with teamwork, they're able to handle it with ease Cheers Nice the customers are starting their meal with yakiniku grilled meat The shop isn't a yakiniku restaurant per se but it's common for teppan restaurants in japan Also offer yakiniku on their menu and in this shop It's typical for customers to start with the meat and then finish off with okonomiyaki or monja What's this?

Omochito mentaiko Monja is often flavored with a japanese worcestershire or soy sauce But here it's simply salted to balance out the flavor with the toppings So monja is kind of like a runnier version of konomiyaki in japan It's cooked and scraped off at the grill with a tiny spatula It's savory and packed with umami born during the edo period in an older part of tokyo today It serves as a fun bonding activity for friends and family to make and eat together Oh, you started drinking water You're still drinking it's pretty hot in here Shito-san and her father had made it a point to try to keep the place as it always has been a relaxing and welcoming Restaurant where the regulars feel like they've come back to their own home One important note about this japanese izakaya is that smoking is allowed inside just like many small restaurants throughout japan Because of this minors aren't legally allowed to enter ever since japan's revised health promotion act went into effect in 2020 Most places had to go smoke-free But small family-run izakayas like this one are exempt as long as they meet certain size requirements Is Nice finally the okonomiyaki It's common for customers to cook it on their own.

But if they need help the servers are more than happy to help Tonight the restaurant will continue on until midnight and only time will tell if the shop continues on to the fifth generation But for now a daughter's love for her father and family has saved the place where she grew up So it can continue on to welcome customers for the foreseeable future And that's another one in the books if you want to visit this shop for yourself I'll be sure to leave a link in the description Okay So this was behind the counter at this local japanese izakaya If you guys like this video like always help me out and hit that like button If you guys want to help support the channel then definitely check out my hot sauce Also, if you're in the shibuya area if you're coming here, I actually have a vending machine in this area So definitely check that out It's just a few minutes down the street And if you guys want to see more videos like this or anything related to japan Hit that subscribe button and bell button and i'll catch you guys In the next one