Yota Tsunoda | "Tokyo Romantic Izakaya" | 5th: Shakke Kojima in Daitabashi

Catching Up Over Drinks: Former Classmates Reconnect

Volume 5: Shaké Kojima in Daitabashi

A friend visiting from London and I went for drinks in Keikyu-Tateishi, then headed west. A five-minute walk across Koshu Kaido from Keio Line's Daitabashi Station, within Okinawa Town, lies a renowned establishment specializing in Hokkaido salmon. This year marks its fifth anniversary, and coincidentally, I occasionally worked the counter here as staff during its first year.

Text by YOTA KAKUDAPhotographs by KAZUNOBU YAMADA

Our First Drink Tonight: Hidakami from My Hometown

Passing through an arcade that was once a market, we spotted a sign designed by Chie Morimoto. Pushing open the sliding door, a space filled with Showa-era furniture unfolded before us.

With seven counter seats and fourteen table seats, the spacious 60cm-deep counter invites lingering conversations.

The sake selection is extensive, featuring excellent brands from across Japan, with a focus on those from Aizu and the Tohoku region, the owner's hometown.

As mentioned, being our third stop of the evening, I started with Hidakami from my hometown, accompanied by salted salmon roe, pickled salmon head cartilage, and salmon icefish.

Elegant Stemware and a Japanese Windsor Chair

The chilled sake glasses, with their thin rims, are elegantly shaped stemware that make drinking easy. As a designer, I found the perfect harmony between German glassware and Japanese sake to be a valuable lesson.

The tableware, featuring crafts from various regions, is also noteworthy. The furniture, including tables from Awaji Kogeisha, consists of understated yet excellent pieces. Among them, the Japanese-made Windsor chairs by the window, designed for Japanese physiques in the Showa era, are superb with their minimal support and simple form.

After enjoying some warm Nara Man sake from Aizu and tempura, we finished with the premium salmon set. The grilled premium salmon, caught using the restaurant's signature fixed-net method, is exquisite. It rivals any main course at a fine restaurant, making it remarkably reasonably priced. The salmon roe bowl is also a popular dish.

Former classmates, whose working desks were once side-by-side, found themselves deep in conversation over exquisite food and sake.

Thanks to the salmon, long known for its digestive benefits, I felt surprisingly healthy even after drinking, as I stepped into a taxi.

Shaké Kojima
1-3-15 Izumi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo, Mensore Daitō Market
Tel. 03-6240-8409
Hours | 6:00 PM - 12:30 AM, 5:00 PM - 12:00 AM (Sundays), Lunch service Wednesdays only
Closed | Mondays

YOTA KAKUDA
A designer born in Sendai. After moving to the UK in 2003 and gaining experience at various firms, he completed his studies at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in 2007. Returning to Japan in 2008, he worked as a product designer for MUJI before establishing YOTA KAKUDA DESIGN in 2011.
http://www.yotakakuda.com/

KAZUNOBU YAMADA
Born in Nara Prefecture in 1978. Studied under photographer Takashi Kumagai from 2005. Became independent in 2008 and has been working as a freelance photographer ever since.