When I first came to live and work in Japan in 1985, I made one of those 24-hour multi-layover flights that was extended even further by a train ride out to Toyama City, in the Hokuriku region, where I would work for the next two years. When I got off the train at the end of that epic journey, I was immediately whisked off by the welcoming committee to have dinner at a place I go to up to this day (literally, I ate there tonight). The name of the place is Akiyoshi, and they specialize in yakitori.

Akiyoshi is a national chain with 127 outlets, but it originated in Hokuriku–Fukui prefecture, to be exact. Toyama, despite being out in the boonies, was close to Fukui so the city had three branches (the prefecture now has 15). It became a familiar haunt, and no less so two years later when I moved to Tokyo. Originally, I lived in Suginami ward, in Asagaya, so the Ogikubo branch was practically next door. Tokyo now has about a dozen, including Ikebukuro, Kanda, Tokiwadai, Gotanda, Nakano, Shibuya, Takadanobaba, Ginza and Ueno.

My personal preference is still for the Ogikubo store, not just for sentimentality or because the staff knows me going on 16 years now, but because the atmosphere and portions are the best there. The Ogikubo store is one of those places where everyone shouts greetings when you walk in; in fact, any order given is another occasion for the staff to shout to each other. Gyuu-hire, itchou! Hai! It’s mostly bar seating, and generally a more convivial atmosphere than most eateries you might go to.

But the food is the best thing about it. More than a dozen varieties of meat-on-a-stick, my personal favorites being negima, gyuu-hire (filet beef), and the standard wakadori. If you want a great meal starter, you can order tori-juu or hire-don, both square lacquer boxes filled with rice and either chicken or beef (cooked on the stick, presented on the rice off the stick), adorned with the house tare sauce. The chicken dish is pictured at the top of this post.

You can also get a variety of other meat and/or vegetable dishes, and beer and chu-drinks are available on tap. The menu for the store can be found here, on their web site. The full on-line menu is in Japanese and has only a few photos; a menu with links to more photos but to more limited dishes can be found here. They also have menu placemats, which you can see under the onion fry dish at the bottom of this post.

That is one of my favorite side dishes: tama-negi furai (pictured at bottom), or onion fry–slices of deep-fried onion in batter. Mmmmmmm, baaaatterrrr…

Even better is the house sauce–a garlic flavored tare sauce, accompanied by a spicy Chinese mustard sauce, and special sauces for additional dishes.

What’s more, it’s cheap, as far as yakitori joints go. The 5-stick wakadori plate is 350 yen. I usually get a tori-juu (5 negima on a bed of rice), two orders of wakadori (5 sticks per order), a tama-negi furai and a couple bottles of Coke, and the damage comes to 1,920 yen.

Do yourself a favor, head on over to one of these next chance you get. The Ogikubo shop is out of the West exit of JR Ogikubo station. Once out of the ticket gate, turn right and go down the stairs. When you reach the shopping street, turn left, and go about 20 meters; Akiyoshi is on the left, past the Yuu-topia bath house.