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There’s an “All-You-Can-Eat Karaage” Place in Tokyo — But There’s a Catch

Unseen Japan
3 min readDec 23, 2024

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A karaage izakaya in Tokyo’s Akasaka neighborhood went viral recently for a billboard advertising an “all you can eat” option. Once inside, however…

Picture: gontabunta / PIXTA(ピクスタ)

A karaage izakaya went viral recently on social media service X. Its sign on the outside promised something that sounded too good to be true. And, it turns out, it was.

The post by user @ssolto reads, “Never coming again.” The post’s photos tell a story in three stages.

On the outside, the sign for the store, Hitosuji in Akasaka, says in large kanji that it offers “all-you-can-eat karaage” (唐揚げ食べ放題; karaage tabehoudai). It also says it allows smoking everywhere in the karaage bar — which isn’t much of a selling point. (Smoking in bars in Tokyo used to be common. It’s rare now due to laws passed before the Tokyo Olympics.)

The second photo doesn’t give anything away, either. “Have you really eaten delicious karaage before?” taunts a sign. “The karaage you’ve been asking for is here.”

The karaage bar doesn’t drop the hammer until you get into the store and pick up a menu. The all-you-can-eat menu is limited…

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Unseen Japan
Unseen Japan

Written by Unseen Japan

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