in one of tokyo's oldest  sukiyaki restaurants called "Imaasa"

"Imaasa" opened in year 1880 just couple of years  after the emperor meiji had his first bite of beef  

in the same year the railway opened near  shiodome where the restaurant is located  

while the exterior has changed  significantly

inside you can feel the old japan atmosphere

dining halls  have tatami floorings

and ”horigotatsu”, a table that is low to the ground  and has a recessed floor beneath

what exactly caused a "Sukiyaki" boom in Japan?

Meiji era was a crucial turning point  in japanese history

bringing about the end of japan's feudal hierarchy

that was replaced by a modern nation state

japan ended its 200year long seclusion and  systematically introduced western culture  

and blended it with a japanese  one

this was called "WAYO-SECCHU"

new culture that resulted from mixing the traditional japan with the new western trends

naturally japanese cuisine experienced some changes too and the new ingredient was introduced  

beef

before the meiji era beef had not been  consumed for over a thousand years in japan

one of the main reasons why beef was not considered clean to eat ,

was the strong influence of Buddhism

however the fact that beef was one  of the key components of the western cuisine,

urged the emperor to add it to his daily diet

which then encouraged the other supporters to start eating beef as well

it was quite difficult  to find the same ingredients and learn the western cooking methods of beef

by using the "Wayo-Secchu" concept

this unfamiliar western ingredient was combined with the japanese style of  cooking

and beef hotpot, "Gyunabe" was created

restaurant "Imaasa" still follows the cooking method  that started in the meiji era

and has been passed down from generation to generation

thin beef  slices are cooked with japanese onion in soy sauce

the reason why the meat is cut so thin

is because in meiji people simply wanted their beef to remind them of the flesh of a fish

because they were more used to it

because the beef is hot it is dipped in  raw egg to prevent burning your tongue

restaurant uses top quality matsusaka beef

matsusaka beef has a high fat to meat ratio

making it really juicy and tender

it is however quite pricey

i'm gonna try tofu

it has been boiling there for some time now

this enoki just absorbs all the juices  and they just explode in your mouth  

finally shirataki noodles are used  to collect all the remaining sauce  

so that there are no leftovers at all

we just slide down immediately

nothing nothing

the owner and a fan of german culture akira-san  

told us about his family  restaurant and its history

Back then, the meat hαd α wild smell to it

so it was hard for the Japanese people to eat it

so many restaurants used miso base to cover it

but we bought high quality beef directly

which enabled us to make soy sauce based hot pot

so the base recipe hasn't change since then

What about the future of Imaasa

that's α difficult question

We're barely surviving

And I have 2 daughters so...

I hope they will take over the business but...I don't know

Now with pandemic, the number of guests are low

Even when this is over, we don't know what will happen

I'll try to continue as much as possible,

and hopefully for the next 100 or 200 years, we can continue

Last but not least, a short message from Akira-san

We are a restaurant with 141 years of history

We still keep the same style from back then

In the special rooms you can sit and stretch your legs

and enjoy the old Gyu-nabe style Sukiyaki

Please come and visit

now you may wonder how much the entire course was

one set of top quality beef in this famous restaurant  cost 14 000 yen per person  

my meal budget for the rest of the month  has been significantly reduced for sure  

but hey it is not every day you get to  eat at a major restaurant

would you try

you