Tiny Izakaya Bar Counter, Japan

This narrow counter belongs to a yatai-style izakaya, the kind of small stand-up or stool-seated bar common in Japan's older entertainment districts. Seating typically runs to a handful of stools along a single counter, with the cook working just an arm's length from customers. Hand-painted portraits and taped-up posters are common decor in these shops, often left by regulars or previous owners rather than the current staff. Menus are usually handwritten and posted on the wall or left on the counter, changing with what's available that day. Many of these bars operate only in the evening hours and seat no more than eight or ten people at a time.

Photo taken in March 2023.