Disinhibited by drinks at an “izakaya” in Tokyo’s Shimbashi district offering “nomihodai” (all-you-can-drink), young employees, still wearing dark suits but with their ties undone, try the old techniques of “nampa," street flirting.

Source: https://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/japan-falling-birthrate-fertility

On any given night, Tsubaki, a tiny neighborhood izakaya in Echo Park, radiates the kind of buzzy, convivial warmth that inspires small huddles of people to gather outside the front door at dusk to wait for an open table.

Source: https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2023-09-06/chef-charles-namba-tsubaki-ototo-japanese-izakaya-sake-bar-los-angeles

The izakaya is named after Ito Mancio, the Japanese Jesuit who travelled to Rome as part of a diplomatic mission in the 1580s.

Source: https://www.theage.com.au/goodfood/the-surry-hills-diner-where-japanese-and-italian-cuisine-bravely-meet-20231006-p5eadf.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed