CULINARY CONUNDRUM Traditional Japanese cuisine faces radical post-pandemic change By Michiyo Nakamoto
PHOTO: ZENIYA
Hanasato, a high-end Japanese restaurant housed in a sprawling mansion surrounded by lush gardens, has been serving traditional multicourse kaiseki cuisine in the suburbs of Yokohama for decades. But on July 19, Hanasato welcomed diners for the last time, ending its 40-year history as a purveyor of traditional Japanese fine dining. Hanasato’s decision to close its doors follows in the footsteps of Tokyo Mimiu, a Japanese restaurant famous for its udon sukiyaki, which closed its six restaurants in the Japanese capital in May. Zuboraya, a restaurant which has been serving fugu in Osaka since 1920, will also shutter its two stores in September. The three restaurants are among the earliest and most highprofile business victims of the coronavirus pandemic in Japan. But they are likely only the first of many. “I think there will be more closures from now on,” said Kotaro Kashiwabara, chair of the Japan Gastronomy Association. “Everyone is saying that many restaurants that manage to survive through July won’t make it after August” because of the slow recovery in business, he added. Japan has fared relatively well amid the spread of Covid-19, with the number of infections and deaths relatively low— 63,164 and 1,201, respectively, as of August 25—compared
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with regions such as the United States and Europe. Restrictions on social and commercial activities have also been looser than in many parts of the world. IRREPARABLE DAMAGE? Nevertheless, nearly three months after the Japanese government lifted a state of national emergency at the end of May, restaurants continue to suffer from a sharp drop in business amid a mood of jishuku, or self-restraint, that has settled over the country. Restaurant sales dropped 32.2 percent in May, following a 39.6-percent decline in April, according to the Japan Foodservice Association. In particular, high-end restaurants saw a 71.5-percent drop in sales in May. “Survival will be extremely difficult,” said Makoto Oshima, owner of Ukiyo, a ryotei, or high-end Japanese restaurant that also provides entertainment, in Niigata Prefecture. While the impact of jishuku is being felt across the board in the hospitality sector, there is concern that the damage wrought by Covid-19 could result in irreparable harm to restaurants serving Japanese cuisine, and even threaten the future of Japan’s culinary culture. Depending on how the industry responds to this crisis, “we could lose what should be a very important national heritage,” said Shinichiro Takagi, chef-proprietor of Zeniya, a high-end Japanese restaurant in Kanazawa. Even before Covid-19 landed on Japan’s shores, Japanese restaurants were hurting from a steady decline in customers. A survey conducted in 2018 by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare found that only 46 percent of respondents had visited
