Yatai

In Japan Yatai usually can be found be in the corner of the street near “Eki” (subway station) or near “Koen” (Park). Long time ago Yatai is destined for people who don't have much time to eat. But along with the growth of people mobilization, today yatai also can be used as hangout place for salaryman and students. A salaryman might relax with colleagues over dinner and drinks at a yatai on his way home from work. They love to eat in the yatai and at the same time drink beer or Sake (typical drink of Japan). The students are usually hangout in yatai after school hour. Yatai means roof vending carts, is mobile food stall. Yatai usually take form of shop wagon or box’s car. Menus are usually limited. Japanese cuisine (often of Chinese origin) is of course most common, but Western cuisine yatai are not unknown. Beer and sake are usually available.

In Japan can find “Yatai-mura” (Village of yatai), a place where many kind of yatai gather. One yatai can accomodating up to 10 people only because the size of the booth is tending to small. Tradition of yatai exist since the Era of Edo, but the yatai existence start to downhill caused by tight regulation of Japanese Government today about the existence of yatai merchants. In Japan, yatai well-known and mostly can be found in Fukuoka region.

There are some yatai that’s open in the certain times or seasonally every year. For example, yatai that sold “Yakitori” and “Sushi”, they open in morning to noon. While yatai that sold “Oden”, “Soba”, and “Ramen” are open from evening to late at night. Yatai also set up temporarily for Japanese festivals like Mitsuri Festival (summer festival) to selling foods for visitors, such as yakisoba, kakigori, takoyaki, and okonomiyaki.