Coronavirus - Are Still-Open Pubs the 21st Century Version of the Black Market that Brought Japan to Life?

Osaka where the Request was issued based on emergency measures. The majority of restaurants where alcohol accounts for the majority of sales have been closed for dinner since August 2. The night town of Osaka has become silent.

However, this is a "request", not a "command". If the request is followed, a flat rate of 60,000 yen a day will be provided for each restaurant. However, there are no legal penalties for not complying. Restaurants that are still open just don't get paid for the cooperation.

The photo above is a crowd of Japanese people flocking to "Yami Ichi" after the defeat of World War II. "Yami Ichi" is a black market formed by people who can't stand the control of the wartime economic system, which puts most of the daily necessities such as rice, clothing, and daily necessities under distribution control.

Perhaps pub goers also couldn't stand the request. The "Yami Ichi pubs", which have suddenly become more competitive with many of its competitors closed, are packed with drunk people. The young part-time clerk is also lucky not to lose their job.

The drunkards take off their masks and chat loudly. You may be worried about coronavirus infection. Perhaps Yami Ichi pubs could be a place for cluster infections. However, it is necessary to recall once again that Yami Ichi (i.e., the black market) was the driving force behind Japan's recovery from the defeat.

Anyway, this izakaya I visited tonight was very prosperous. It is famous for Kyushu-style fried chicken, but it is a cheap restaurant that sells draft beer and highball for only 180 yen. It is a hero for drunkards, who does not raise prices when there are fewer competitors.

Ramen is also popular in Osaka, but be careful: the salt content of ramen eats people

There are countless restaurants in Japan where you can eat at a reasonable price. Above all, ramen restaurants, which have been attracting attention from people all over the world in recent years, are highly active. Osaka has too many variations of restaurants, so it was thought that there were fewer ramen restaurants in Osaka than in other prefectures, and the quality was inferior.　However, ramen restaurants in Osaka have become quite substantial in the last few years. Many ramen shops have been established in the past few years near JR Shin-Osaka Station, which serves the Shinkansen. In particular, the ramen restaurant "Kokokara Sakie" on the north side of Shin-Osaka is one of my recent favorites. The biggest beauty of ramen dishes at this restaurant is that they are not too salty. One early summer day, I got a gem of noodles made by Kyoto's famous noodle factory "Teigaku" in a soup extracted from a round chicken of Nagoya Cochin.

I also added plenty of char siu. I'm refraining from salt, but I drank all the soup.

On another scorching midsummer day, I ate this chilled ramen. The soup taken from Iriko is dyed in the color of soy sauce.

However, the treatment of salt is also careful here, and I can drink all of it.

I usually leave a lot of ramen soup. When you come to Japan, it is highly recommended to leave as much ramen soup as possible. Ramen soup is too salty and often eats the eater's body. I also had high blood pressure, partly due to overeating ramen. Moreover, I suffered from cerebral hemorrhage due to high blood pressure and was hospitalized for more than half a year in 2019. Some Japanese ramen researchers and ramen specialists have died from eating too much ramen and breaking their bodies.

Anyway, "Kokokara Sakie" is a good restaurant. Japanese ramen restaurants have sharp owners and they are often not very friendly, but the owner of this restaurant is as friendly as the managers of pubs in rural towns. The young assistant girl is also beautiful and amiable.

It's not welcome that Tsukemen soup is boiling on a hot summer day!

I had been living without lunch for about 3 months trying to lose weight, but I found a new ramen shop in front of Higashimikuni station and broke the ban.

The shop name is "Akinai". It's a Japanese word meaning business. I ordered Tanrei Tsukemen. Tanrei means "light and tasty". Tsukemen means a ramen dish in Japanese cuisine consisting of noodles which are eaten after being dipped in a separate bowl of soup or broth. Somehow, elaborate tsukemen came out. On this hot day, the soup was served in a heated stone pot, and I was stunned to see it boiling.

Moreover, there is wonton in the soup.

In addition, the noodle bowl is filled with kelp water.

The taste was certainly Tanrei. It was an unwelcome favor that the juice was boiling on a hot summer day, though.