An Afternoon at Akamaru Shokudo
— A Showa-era diner and a surprisingly massive lunch —
Visit: June 1 , 2025
On the way to the Expo, I stopped in Bentencho for lunch.
I chose Akamaru Shokudo.
It was a place where the atmosphere of the Showa era still remained intact.
Entering a Showa-era restaurant alone.
A small line had formed in front of the restaurant.
It seemed that the peak hour was already over,
so the waiting time did not look very long.
A woman alone.
I felt a slight tension.
I was guided to a counter seat.
The young man who had been waiting behind me sat down next to me.
He ordered first.
“Holiday lunch.”
Oh, the same.
Then it was my turn.
“How much rice would you like?”
“Medium, please.”
That single sentence would later lead to a small tragedy.
Tempted by the “limited to 30 servings” sign, I placed my order.
The Shock of a Megaton Lunch
In the photos, it didn’t look that big.
But the moment it was brought to the table, I thought:
…No, something’s wrong.
Everything was on a single plate.
Yet that plate itself was enormous.
The miso soup and side dishes were normal in size.
The problem was the main dish.
Big.
And plenty.
One plate alone had a clearly abnormal sense of scale.
Then I noticed something else.
Even the “medium” portion of rice was huge.
If only that had been smaller.
It was delicious.
But there was no escape.
The sheer volume of the main dish kept pressing in, relentlessly.
I realized that this place must be a sacred ground
for men who love hearty meals.
Perhaps it wasn’t a place
a woman should challenge alone.
What should I do…?
My Mother’s Voice Returns
This is how my mother raised me.
“Never leave food on your plate.”
A rule that felt natural in a Showa-era household.
There was no escape.
Taking my time,
I ate bite by bite, as if fighting a battle.
Halfway through,
I thought, “This might be training.”
And somehow, I finished everything.
A Full Stomach Changed the Journey
After leaving the restaurant, I thought:
“This might have been… too much.”
As it turned out,
I wasn’t hungry at all during the Expo.
All I had was drinks.
The day at the Expo
had already been decided by Akamaru Shokudo.
Rather than simply being full,
it felt as if I had eaten something closer to “resolve.”
In Closing
Akamaru Shokudo
is not a stylish restaurant.
It is an unadorned, ordinary Osaka space.
Uncompromising.
Warm.
Filled with the presence of people.
That was the kind of place it was.
The portions, the flavors, the atmosphere—
everything felt a little excessive for our time.
And that is precisely why
it remains in memory.
Perhaps what supported my day at the Expo
was not the future,
but a single plate in Bentencho.
👉 Related article:
🚉Stopover Journey at Expo ①
✨ Gateway to the Showa Era― Showa Diner
Today’s bonus capsule!
The Showa era (1926–1989) was a time when modern technology and ideas began to transform everyday life in Japan.
My parents grew up in a time
when there was nothing after the war.
That is why,
“having too much” felt safer
than “not having enough.”
Somewhere along the way,
that feeling became part of me too.
My mother used to say,
“You must not leave food on your plate.”
For the younger generation today,
this feeling may be hard to understand.
But when I saw the large plate
at Akamaru Shokudo,
her words suddenly came back to me.
The portions, the flavors, the atmosphere—
everything felt slightly excessive.
Maybe
that was the beauty of the Showa era.