The dark side of the nightscape: the growth of izakaya chains and the changing landscapes of evening eateries in Japanese cities

Abstract

Bars and drinking spaces constitute an essential aspect of night-time entertainment districts. Japanese bars, generally known as izakaya, served a variety of cuisines and drinks, and they have been a central part of urban nightscapes. After the bursting of the bubble economy and the decade-long recession since the 1990s, however, the cultures of izakaya have changed dramatically. Drawing from the works of geographers, this paper critically examines recent changes in drinking spaces—particularly izakaya—and discusses how their changes are impacting the transformation of the night-time entertainment districts in Japan. This paper addresses several problems that are emerging in the transformation of the izakaya industry. Specifically, it problematizes the increasing numbers of corporate izakaya chains that have been established in recent years. They tend to serve food and drinks at a much cheaper price than their competitors, such as family-run izakaya. This is possible by making use of cheap laborers and a scale economy. For this reason, many traditionally family-run izakaya are struggling, and they are gradually disappearing from today’s urban nightscape in entertainment districts. Detailed examples of several entertainment districts in Tokyo metropolitan area and izakaya chains’ impacts in homogenizing the nightscape will be discussed at length.

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