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This Japanese pub with one-yen bottles of sake broke our brain and made our day

Casey Baseel Aug 25, 2024
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We have no idea how this is possible, but we’re oh so happy it is.

Osaka is known as a place where people love finding a great deal and having a great time. So when our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa was back home on a recent visit and heard about Chutoro and Tonsoku, he knew he had to check it.

Chutoro and Tonsoku is an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) located in Osaka’s Temma district. Temma has an old-school, blue-collar vibe, so there are more than a few izakaya to be found in the neighborhood. Chutoro and Tonsoku, though, is the only one that sells sake for 1 yen (less than US$0.01).

This isn’t some secret deal that’s only available to regulars or otherwise in-the-know customers. Chutoro and Tonsoku is located right outside the exit of Temma Station, and they’ve got a massive sign at their entrance proclaiming “Sake, hot or cold, 1 yen” (日本酒　あつかん　冷酒　１円).

The pub is actually located in the basement, so Seiji made his way down the stairs, where the walls are plastered with handwritten menu items.

Once inside the pub, Seiji began looking over the menu, which is quite extensive, with a full lineup of alcoholic beverages and Japanese pub grub like oden (simmered vegetables and meats), karaage (fried chicken), and even sushi.

However, he couldn’t spot the 1-yen sake anywhere on the menu…at least not the printed menu. This isn’t really a problem, though, since at Chutoro and Tonsoku you place your order using your smartphone, and on the digital menu 1-yen sake (1円日本酒) is easy to find.

▼ The first selection is for how many sake cups you want them to bring you (options from top: none, one, two, three, and four), and you make your selection of room-temperature (常温) or hot (あつかん) temperature below.

Now, when you order sake out in Japan, sometimes you get just a cup, and sometimes you get a whole small bottle, called a tokkuri, with enough sake to refill your cup a few times. With Chutoro and Tonsoku charging just 1 yen for this sake, Seiji figured he’d only be getting a single cup…

…but nope, they brought him a full tokkuri!

The surprises were just getting started, though. Remember how we mentioned Chutoro and Tonsoku serves food? Some of it is unbelievably low-priced too. Wanting something to snack on, Seiji decided to order some stewed shiitake mushrooms, which were only 10 yen for a dish. Two piece of Chutoro and Tonsoku “simple pizza” collectively cost him 109 yen.

109 yen was also the price of the dish of oden that Seiji ordered.

▼ 109 is amazingly cheap…and yet still more than 100 times as expensive as Seiji’s bottle of sake.

At this point, Seiji’s head was spinning, but not from the sake. Instead, he was struggling to understand how these prices were possible. But then he remembered, izakaya customarily charge some sort of service charge. Sometimes they offset this by automatically giving you a small appetizer when you come in, and since Chutoro and Tonsoku didn’t give him one, that means that whatever extra fee they charge is a straight mark-up to your bill.

Looking around, Seiji found a sign confirming that yes, there is a table charge at Chutoro and Tonsoku. However, it’s not very much (275 yen before tax, or 303 after), and Seiji was actually left with another question after reading the sign informing customers of the charge.

▼ “For customers using seats, there is a table charge of 275 yen.”

Turning his head one way, Seiji could see tables with seats…

…but when you look the other way, you’ll see that Chutoro and Tonsoku has a standing section too.

So if the table charge is for customers using seats…

“That’s right, there’s no table or service charge for customers who use the standing section.”

The cheerful staff confirmed Seiji’s theory, and told him that they do indeed have customers who come in, order the 1-yen sake and a 110-yen plate of oden, pay their 111-yen bill, and go home, which Chutoro and Tonsoku has no problem with.

OK, but you still have to order at least one drink and one food item right? Nope! Seiji asked it would be OK for someone to come to Chutoro and Tonsoku and order only the 1-yen sake, and once again the staff was all smiles as they informed him “Yeah, that’s totally OK with us!”

Now thoroughly reeling, Seiji’s mind reached out to try to grasp the last possible way this system could make any sort of economic sense. Maybe only your first bottle of sake is 1 yen. After that, the price must go up, and maybe it’s expensive enough that if you drink three or four, you actually end up paying more than you would somewhere else where the first bottle isn’t so close to free?

Not at all. You can order as many bottles of the 1-yen sake as you want, and the price doesn’t go up. Want two bottles? That’ll be 2 yen. 5 bottles? 5 yen. 10 bottles? We wouldn’t recommend drinking that much all by yourself, but it’s definitely something you can afford to do without someone else to split the bill with, as those 10 bottles will be just 10 yen.

Oh, and if you’re thinking the way Chutoro and Tonsoku pulls this off is by giving you crummy quality, bad-tasting fare, that’s not the case either, as everything Seiji and drink during his visit was delicious.

In the end, we have no idea how Chutoro and Tonsoku stays in business. It’s like they exist in some dream realm outside the bounds of real-world economics, but it’s a dream we’re glad we got to have, and one we hope to have again the next time we’re in Osaka.

Restaurant information
Chutoro and Tonsoku / 中トロと豚足
Address: Osaka-fu, Osaka-shim Kita-ku, Nishiki-co 3-12
大阪府大阪市北区錦町3-12
Open noon-4 a.m.
Website

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[ Read in Japanese ]