• Skip to content
  • Skip to footer

Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

  • Photowalks
  • Portfolio
  • Haikyo
  • About/Contact
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • RSS

Jul 16 2018 10 Comments

An 81-year-old chef in his half-century old restaurant

When he was a fresh faced 29-year-old, the chef below opened his own little Chinese restaurant. Now, 52 years later, he’s still cooking behind the same counter. A staggering amount of time by any standards, and yet it’s a post he doesn’t intend to leave any time soon.

an elderly Japanese chef in an old school Tokyo restaurant

Categorized: Food and Drink, Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Linda says

    7/16/2018 at 9:01 am

    This is another one that looks much cleaner and shinier than your usual haunts!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/16/2018 at 5:40 pm

      Yes, decor wise it’s lovely and dated, but he definitely runs a tight ship — no grime to be seen anywhere. Thankfully though the great food and friendly vibe more than made up for it!

      Reply
  2. Ed says

    7/16/2018 at 12:40 pm

    The lady doesn’t look younger either. Next to him for the past 50 years, I bet.

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/16/2018 at 5:43 pm

      Yes, they’ve been there together the whole time. Clearly a very good relationship to say the least. But attempting to be a gentleman, I didn’t ask her age!

      Reply
  3. Harry says

    7/16/2018 at 1:16 pm

    That looks such a cool place to eat. I hope I can have so much energy when I’m 81! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/16/2018 at 5:45 pm

      Likewise. Didn’t doubt him for a minute when he said he has no intentions of quitting soon. And yeah, it was a really nice place to have lunch and spend a bit of time.

      Reply
  4. john says

    7/17/2018 at 3:13 am

    I bit saddened to miss out on what looks like the standard trailing extension socket and also the wooden statue, but then I saw the eyes at pan level and the cats embroidered on the apron. Decisive moment?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      7/17/2018 at 2:44 pm

      Yes, alas it wasn’t possible to fit everything in. Not so much a decisive moment, but rather a case of just getting what I could from the chair I’d purposely chosen. First thing I do when I go in such a place is to try and work out where the best photo opportunity will come from. The whole thing was nearly scuppered though by a fella who came in after us and plonked himself down at the counter where the newspapers are. But fortunately the master suggested he take the other table, and the chance of a shot was back on!

      Reply
  5. Paco says

    8/20/2018 at 7:21 am

    where?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      8/22/2018 at 8:29 am

      Don’t have the exact location on me at the moment, but it’s on the Seibu Ikebukuro line. I could probably find it on the map if you really wanted to go.

      Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

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

Footer

Copyright © 2019 · Tokyo Times