Yatai is tempolally street stall that open at only festival time. and it’s very famous fact that Yatai is managed by Yakuza, and Yatai is very unreasonably expensive, and Yatai food is very bad taste.
If you have Japan ese friends, ask them. ?EDo you know Yatai is managed by Yakuza ? and they say, Yes. Do you know Yatai is very expensive ? and they say Yes. Do you know Yatai food is very bad taste ? and they say, Yes.
After that ask them again, Do you want to help Yakuza ‘ s funds source ? and they say NO. and Do you want to do unreasonably expensive shopping ? and they say, Never ! and Do you want to eat bad taste food ? and they say ?EPlease don ‘ t ask me such stupid question ?E
After that, go to Japan ese festival with them. There are lots of Yatai. And see what happen. The same person start to shop at Yatai.
Nomal people must not shop at Yatai. But most Japanese people love to shop at Yatai. Japan ese people must be not nomal.
You should not think seriously about Japan ese people ‘ s saying. We can think logically but we cannot act logically.
But shopping at Yatai is fun ! It ‘ s beyond the reason. I think following pictures tell you the reason why Japanese people act unlogically at Yatai !
コメント
I didn’t know that yatai were under the control of gangsters.
But it is “fun” to shop at them. I mean…you’re at a fun place, you’re walking around, walking makes you hungry, you need food, what will you do? Besides, you can smell the food, which makes it more tempting.
But still, octopus tentacles are not my idea of a tasty snack.
I actually think that Yatai food is pretty decent. At least it’s far better than carnival food in the US. I just wish they had more vegetarian things.
The point about Japanese people acting illogically is a good one. Another example of people doing stupid things that support the Yakuza are pachinko and hostess clubs. Masa I would love to see/read some information about these places too, although I know that most don’t allow picture taking. Maybe we’re in need of some Ninjashotter skills . . .
=========from MasaManiA
Thank you
Well it made me hungry just looking at them. Erm, that, and I haven’t eaten today.
Right. I’m off to the shop. 🙂
Yo Masa, you should do a picture thing about the Yakuza… but you might get beat up or killed… are you scared of the Yakuza?
==========from MasaManiA
Yes, i scared of Yakuza.
thank you for these pictures. I really love this entry.
ora ora ora ora
Yakuza are so short of cash these days they’re forced to make a few yen working yatai! Jeez!
You ought to let them in on your porn movie business, Masa. The profit margin on a “Deep Throat” must be three hundred times that of a plate of okonomiyaki.
==========from MasaManiA
you are idea man.
I traveled across the country of the united states, selling fresh squeezed lemon-aide
I bought a vw syncro vanagon, all wheel drive, party van
and I modified a cheap pine foldable futon frame into
into a fenced in counter stand
we stole an umbrella from “au bon pain”
and my girlfriend and I were in business
22 dollars for a case of lemons, 30 pound bag of ice, water
sugar, cups and an old-fashioned lemon squeezer
we set up at different concerts and events like lalapalooza, etc
jumping from venue to venue depending on our mood
2 dollars for a 16oz cup of straight lemon-aide
3 dollars if you want a shot of jack daniels or tequila inside
5 dollars for a double shot
no ID necessary, step right up and get your lemon-aide
we averaged 300 dollars a day, so we did not need to sell every day
this afforded us the opportunity to travel the country for 9 months
long live the Yatai
masa, tempolally = temporary!!
don’t say tempolally in front of a native english speaker or they will laugh at you. [[::
I think people buy the food because it is like a novelty.
Takoyaki. The greatest of all Japanese inventions.
Does the yakuza work in the porn business as well? If so you must have had lots of dealings with them. Did they ever threaten you or make you give them a big cut of the profits? Are all the male actors in porn yakuza people?
========from MasaManiA
Yakuza do any kind of business
some of the utensils used look really old and dirty. food are fucking ex. SGD$3 for a banana when i can get a whole brunch of it? the whole idea seems similar to Singapore’s pasa malam only that stuffs sold/rents are much much cheaper. COME TO SINGAPORE MASA! it’d be a wonderful trip 🙂
============from MasaManiA
Yes
So that´s the explanation for their ridiculously expensive prices, then. When I went to see the Summer Hanabi at Osaka, like a year ago, they charged me a lot of money for some weird beans in the pod and greasy hotdogs, can´t remember the amount but it was way too much… I just atributed it to the fact that in those festivals there´s pretty much nowhere else you can go buy some food, so they charge you whatever price they want. Kinda like the overpriced beer at bars and discos. Now I understand the reason why in the movie “Kikujiro no natsu” there were those yakuza who beat the living crap out of Kitano ha ha…
=======from MasaManiA
Yes
looks delicious… i miss okonomiyaki…
That story reminds me of Pusan in South Korea. Pusan is on the southern coast of Korea and has a well_known beach called Haeundae Beach. There are many vendors on the beach that sell food and fireworks. These vendors are regulated by organized crime as well. The local police are more like organized criminal syndicate as well. The last mayor of Pusan was arrested for massive bribery — did I mention that Pusan went bankrupt under his tenure? — and while he was in jail, he committed suicide by hanging himself with his undershirt.
==========from MasaManiA
Thank you for your interesting report
I am sorry I have no pictures to go with my report. 🙁
Masa
You have the best japanese blog ! Sometimes is hard to believe you are a real japanese ! Anyway keep up the good work !
=========From MasaManiA
Thank you and I am Japanese.
I recently completed a Masters thesis on the abolition of Tokyo’s street stalls (roten) in 1949 under the US Occupation. It amazed me how everyone knew that the stalls were run by the yakuza, but no one was willing to admit crime was the reason the black markets were being dismantled. (Instead, the Tokyo government said the stalls were being removed to make the city cleaner.)
And it still goes on.
Thanks for the pictures Masa.
==========From MasaManiA
Yes, Japan seem to be strange for foreginer’s eys and mania of the truth.
This reminds me of New York’s San Gennaro festival in Little Italy (pictures: http://www.nyclittleitaly.com/feast97.html.
For a long time everyone knew that the festival was run by the mafia, but about 10 years ago Mayor Giuliani promised he was going to kick the mafia out. He said he cleaned it up, but everyone knows the mafia is still involved.
I guess the Yakuza, like the Mafia, like to manage businesses that sell food and junk out of temporary shacks.
Anyway Masa, keep up the good work!
===========from MasaManiA
I dont care wheather yakuza or not, but I want to eat more delicious food. dont you ? hahaha
Who cares whether the mafia or the yakuza or the gangster managing those stalls? As long as they sell foods, people buy it! Once can go against the will of hungry stomache! Angry at yakuza managing the stall can’t fill your stomache when you are hungry! Well, i think they still go by the word “Customers is always right” so these seller probably treat they customers equally as long as you don’t be rude and demanding!
Interesting, that with all the foods offered at festivals and such in Japan, and the amount of food Japanese consume at restaurants, that the Japanese are in general slim and healthy. Whereas Americans eat all sorts of shit and are, relatively speaking, fat fucks.
Interesting to see Japan’s version of white trash…or is it yellow trash?
Kudos.
I am going to say what a jap friendo told me that a _Yakusa said in a film: (I dont know how you can write it in romazi): > (the actor said that lookin’ to his own blood).
There are yakuzas in Tokyo or only in Oosaka
How much earn the politicians leaving alone to Yakuzas?
Greeting from Spain, here the Yakuza are the policemen, they can torture you and they earn a lot of money.
==========From MasaManiA
At least Yakuza earn money by theirself. but police live by our tax.
Well i don’t know if it tastes bad, but most of the stuff in the pictures seems to be good. There is only one thing i dislike about Japan; it is the Narita Airport. That place is hell on earth. Maybe you could take some pics there someday.
But aren’t there yatai that aren’t at festivals? I thought there were just yatai sometimes in the city like Tokyo, Osaka, etc.
And if prices are high, be sorry it is so tough to be Yakuza! You have to buy lots of booze, lots of girls, lots of sunglasses, and always get haircut! And what about bribe police and politician? Being Yakuza is so expensive and tough they must have to become businessman to afford to be criminal, so I kind of feel sorry for them! Of course, if they beat me up or kill me, I will be mad and haunt their yatai with my hungry, angry ghost! Hah hah!!!
I wonder what kind of yatai food yakuza like best . . . ? Anyway, fuck beautiful girl then go to yatai for snack after, but don’t fuck yatai because yakuza might fuck you back!
why can’t regular people run yatai?? why yakuzas only? crazy, illogical japan…but i still love it!
i dont know if its all bad. i love buttered jagaimo and at 400yen, i got the hugest potato i’ve ever seen. oh well.
==========from MasaManiA
Yes, it seem good food but taste terrible.
All that food looks delicious! +___+
Masa, are the yakuza…a mafia?
========from MasaManiA
Yes, Yakuza is Japanese mafia
Hi Masa….
Well…another interesting pics….
You know, here In Chile, we have the national celebration (17-18-19th september) that looks likes your “yattai festival”….yattai are really look like that we have here called “fondas” (they are temporarly stall too) but the difference is, that kind of stall is managed by decente people and not by criminals( well i guess there are a minority managed by some mafia’s character, im not sure anyway)
diference…that “fondas” are instaled in all over the contry, in dusty places like football dusty camps, in fact near to my house there are a big and vaste football camp where you can apreciate the national festivity in september and where national music and dance cueca and cumbia, salsa crap music is played all day and all night long….with thousand and thousand of people visit the fondas to buy some typical chilean food like barb-q, empenadas y drink a lot a of chicha (national alcoholic drink made basicly of grapes or apples) y having fun…But food there had a good taste even if the fonderos(sellers) cook all that food over a dusty floor football camp, i dont know…i guess, maybe, dust give to the food a special taste…you think maybe that isn’t so higienic, but what the fuck! people consume food anyway and have fun no matter what they are eating contains dust or shit…
however, the food you showed us on your pics seems to be yummy, but very expensive to me (i convert the prize in yen into chilean pesos prize and is VERY fuckin expensive, remember, im a poor animator student) . I don’t wanna doubt about your words…but, if it is exotic food(and i really like exotic food), i would like taste a bit of everything there…
Now about the Yattai yakuzas’s managment…i can tell you that at least here in Chile, we have legal criminals that do crapy management like a mafia operating system, called SPANISHES, They come to Chile and they install with companies that earn money to chilean people stoling through expensive cable TV, Phone, Internet and alcoholic Drinks taxes… They have economic power y they are almost a fokin bill gates in our country…they take from us our money and it becomes a fuckin pain in the ass…fuckin spanishes, go home!!
So you see after all…Japan is not so diferent from Chile…we have mafia here…stolin money from good people with high taxes…I think Chile is a paradise for criminals…a country where criminals are awarded (like Pinochet)…where criminals after killing people, they receive 6 month of jail for punishment, with unfair laws and, of course,(some) polititians are free criminal, pedofilians can enjoy with poor childs…
yes, an unique paradise where laws plays togheter with criminals and put them free…
Awesome country uh?
well that’s it…
Uh…can you send the sailor moon doll(it’s not to fuck it, just for my Gf who loves sailor moon) from that yattai mask? i paid what it takes…thx
=================from MasaManiA
THank you for your report. about doll, there are lots of sailor monn dolls. i dont know which one do you want.
Gordan Ramsey would call yakuza-run food stands a major kitchen nightmare. I used to work in a restaurant and it was much cleaner compared to the photos you put up. I feel very much informed with your excellent journalism. go shinsetsu ni doumo arigatou gozaimasu nyo! m(_)m ganbatte kudasai ne!
==========From MasaManiA
Thank you
First I’d like to say that I love your site – first time poster, long time reader. Also, couldn’t it be possible that some of these little stands are legitimate? I remember getting a potato and corn on the cob by the Sapporo tower from a kind old lady for only 100 yen. とてもおぁE
Taiwan has yatai markets every night, 365 days a year. Called “Night Markets,” they are colorful, noisy, chaotic and oishii, too!
The Japanese film director Mitsuo Yanagimachi made a film about the Night Markets of Taiwan a few years ago, for NHK. It played on TV and in theaters in Japan.
Nice site, by the way. Great photos. Come visit Taiwan and make a story about the night markets and betel nuts girls. You will not be disappointed.
=============from MasaManiA
THank you. Taiwan seem to be exiting.
The photos made me feel like i was there myself.
Good pictures.
Masamania, do you not like takoyaki and okonomiyaki?
Or am I mistaking that food for something else?
Anyways, Thailand has the best street food in terms of deliciousness and value. I would say Japan has some pretty good food too, though alot more expensive
In America, we only have pretzels and hotdogs in streets, and McDonalds at streetsides.
Have you seen what American street and snack food is like in comparison to Japan? It sucks!
============from MasaManiA
But american fast food is big volume and jucy. it’s great.
Yakuza are great because they make uncensored AV!
Fuck WW2 Americas stupid censoring laws on Japanese AV!
===========from MasaManiA
No, it’s not true. Chinese people start to make Japanese uncensored AV. Not Yakuza. I know it because I also help to make it.
The Yatai are such dicks. Who else charges 500yen for 10yen worth of cotton candy? Still, they don’t seem too scary. If you want to see really scary Yakuza, I suggest going to a Tosa dog fight. Yes, dog fighting is still legal in Japan. Maybe the only country in the world dog fights are legal. Anyway, I found one in Aomori and it was really scary. Too bad there aren’t many dog fights in Tokyo for you to check out.
masa, this is the best blog i use to visit
ilike too much the fact that you show the real japanese life, not what we see here in mexico by the manga and anime
thnx by the great pictures
==========from MasaManiA
THank you
It feels like traveling when reading ur articles mr.masa 😀 Keep up the good work ok 😀
=========from MasaManiA
THank you
Hello Kitty? I wouldn’t want to shop there. Why do the annoying cartoons/comics/anime never seem to die?
Jay, organized crime and politics go hand in hand in many countries. Example: http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/%7Eedjacob/
The mafia doesn’t care what the job is, just about the profits. The yatai stands must be profitable. It doesn’t seem to matter that prices are high; people are still willing to pay, thus the profit margin must be good.
Masa,
ALC shouldn’t speak for all of America. Here in Houston, we have very many taco stands (actually trucks) and no hot dog stands. The taco stands are great. You can get a really good beef fajita taco for about $1.50. For $5.00 you can have a whole meal.
As far as I know, most of the stands are perfectly legal, though I have heard of some that also sell drugs.
(For those who don’t know, $5.00 is about 560 Yen.)
==========from MasaManiA
THank you for your report
If you go to Albuquerque, New Mexico, don’t eat at the Burrito Box. The burritos are about a foot long, as big around as my fist, packed solid, and cost $1.50-$2.00 when I left (1995). They were also infested with cockroaches most of the time and made their profits by buying bricks of pot and selling nickel and dime bags.
Don’t go to any pizza places and ask for a ‘shroom pizza’, either. One place was busted when a cop came in and thought that asking for a ‘shroom pizza’ was a cool way of asking for mushrooms as a topping. The hallucinations he started having tipped his fellow cops off. Frying bacon! For anyone who speaks English as a second language-‘I smell bacon’ was slang for ‘I see a cop’-‘frying’ refers to ‘getting high’.
The food is really good, but damn it gives me the worst shits. I spent five days with explosive shits and I thought I was going to die.
I heard that the yakuza have their own public offices that anybody off the street can walk into and that they even have their own trade magazine. Is this true?
In America mobsters try to be secretive and do not try to bring attention to themselves.
When I went to MATSURI, almost every yatai stand had the same thing. How come there is no variety?
so the Yakuza sell Hello Kitty too?
well, then I guess I’ll stop at a yatai because I like hello kitty…LOL