Hanakujira: Steamy scenes from the oden pot - The Japan Times

September 21,2024

Hanakujira is an all-society restaurant. At 5 o.
Hanakujira is an all-society restaurant. At 5 o'clock on a Monday evening, the air still frigid with cold shock after a recent snowstorm, Osaka's great and ordinary are packed inside (and queuing outside) to get close to the steaming vats of oden. There are families with young ones, friends, office ladies, grandparents, college kids, dating couples and the ubiquitous coterie of salarymen. When my companion and I show up there are only two seats, or stools, unoccupied, close to the door at the end of the counter — but at this oden institution, the counter is where you want to be, especially if you are a first timer.