Cheap Restaurants in Japan – B-Class Gourmet (B-きゅ）Japan is certainly a culture who adores and appreciates all types of foods. In fact it’s said that Japan could certainly have the finest food in all the world. Many famous chefs have come to Japan from all over the world to learn the food culture in Japan, but to also bring their own cuisine. Over the years you get a melting pot of all types of foods that have in many ways been improved on and at times given that Asian flare!
But when it comes to eating out, a lot of people of Japan are not always looking for that 5 star restaurant to eat at, in fact there are some stable favorites (meals) in Japan that the majority of the people of Japan enjoy and don’t mind if it’s from a cheap izakaya or restaurant.
The term B-Class Gourment (B-kyu – said like B-Q) is used for restaurants who make good affordable meals (it could also mean a term for someone who likes good affordable meals). People from around Japan will travel long distances to eat at an affordable BUT delicious restaurant. Perhaps you’ve heard that at times a certain ramen or izakaya shop will end up with lines going around block corners off and off into the sunset?
Well, it’s because these shops are offering amazing quality food for an unbelievable price. This happens even here in 
America too, and I know the sign of a good restaurant. My wife and I live in Colorado and we shop at many of the Asian markets in Denver at times, and we would always go to this smaller Asian market to pick up tea, hot sauces and some Asian sweets that you can’t get from regular American grocery stores.
Every time we’d pull up to this place it the parking lot was packed because of an authentic Chinese restaurant called ‘Star Kitchen‘ next to it, and although for the most part it was purely individuals of Asian descent coming in and out of the restaurant I knew it was epic because it was just crawling with the older generation. There is one thing I’ve found for the most part, when a restaurant is PACKED and has a good amount of older folks going to it, it’s a winner.
So we tried it, and it was certainly different then I’ve ever experienced in a restaurant scene before, but it was certainly an eye opener on how other cultures enjoy a meal at a restaurant. But with that said, a line 95% of the time usually means there’s something on the menu that you’ll enjoy (even if it’s frog legs!). It’s said that if a B-Class Gourmet restaurant keeps up it’s reviews and can continue to handle their customer base in a somewhat timely manner, it will become a ‘trendy’ B-Class restaurant and will stay that way for a decade or longer. It’s basically like winning the restaurant lottery if you want to put it in other terms.
Many big hits in the B-Class Gourmet niche are usually ramen shops. Many of these shops will make their own noodles and soup bases, giving it their own distinct flavor which is what pulls in people from all around Japan and what creates those extra long lines. It’s said that a certain B-Class food restaurant will even increase local travel to the area. For example, Fukuoka which is the city I’ll be going to school in became extremely popular because of their local specialty Motsunabe, which is a beef and pork organ stew. Many different areas will gain attention because of their local specialties.
Here is a list of some of the most popular B-Class Gourmet foods in Japan:
Yakisoba – Grilled Buckwheat Noodles
Sushi – High Quality and Cheap = Long Lines!
Gyoza – Chinese rice wrapped dumpling (Star Kitchen has famous Shrimp Gyoza! – and they’re really really good!!)
Okonomiyaki – It’s basically a whatever you want pancake
Yakitori – Grill Chicken, in fact a lot of the chouchin lanterns are famous for saying yakitori (やきとり） and ramen (ラーメン) on them. –>
Curry Rice – Vegetables, Meat and Curry around rice
Tongatsu – Fried Pork Meat Strips.
You can learn a bit more about some of these on this page too.
Of course this a small list and any type of food can make the list of B-Class gourmet as long as it’s delicious and CHEAP! You can see a couple more options of famous types of B-kyu foods here.
-Nihon Scope
The Power of Water Can Grant Wishesby: Nihonscope
So what is this seemingly odd title to a post about Japan have to do with anything, and can anyone legitimately say that water has the capability to grant a wish? Well through out history there has been one solid substance that has held a long life of belief in it’s magical powers, and of course that substance is water. The more that you may find yourself browsing this blog, the more you’ll see that my beliefs of magic is not an illogical attitude towards the mystical, I firmly hold my beliefs of magic and attraction to a level of science as well.
So how can I say that water has assisted me in attracting myself to Japan? Well the answer to that lies in vibrational resonance. What do I mean by that? To easily explain what I mean, it’s a feeling and if you believe it or not (right now), I can prove to you that feelings and beliefs can be harnessed into a physical geometrical shape and, I can prove it to you… With Science that it’s true!!! Woah!
So let me quickly introduce you to a man who studied this REAL scientifically proven research that feelings can be injected into water. His name is Masaru Emoto and he is the author of “Hidden Messages in Water” (which you can view a book that refines the research even further here in a book called “The Water Code”). This man found that water from certain dams and places around the world have different geometric shapes that come with them naturally, but more importantly he found that these geometrical shapes that can be seen in water can be changed. They can be changed by feelings.
This is a clip from “What the Bleep Do We Know?” but I find this is the best way to get a grasp of what I’m speaking about here. So how exactly is one to use this knowledge for their own benefit? Well consider this, if you were to tape a word say ‘love’ to a bottle of water it’s going to create a shape/feeling based around a true geometrical design, that is attuned to your feeling towards that specific word(s). So when you drink the water you are in sense drinking a vibrational resonance and just like a tuning fork, your own bodies water will begin to ring the same vibration outwards. For those who know the idea of what the ‘Laws of Attraction’ are you will quickly see you are priming your own pump to receive the vibrational energy you’ve put inside your body to come to you over time consistently.
I highly suggest learning more about the concept of Law of Attraction as it’s continuing to plow through conventional science and proving itself to be more and more a reality of those with consciousness (with a lot of teachings throughout history in major religions). Watch the video below for a brief explanation of what it is, as it will help you see how this energy turns into granting wishes. This is actually one of my mentors for spirituality and business, Bob Proctor!
So to carry on, how did I use water to attract myself to going to Japan? Easy! I simply wrote down words and taped it to my water bottle (of course that’s not all I still needed to act!). I added, health, love and Japan. I also added it to my tea pot. Although by the science it’s triggering the vibrational energy throughout my water, it also triggers my consciousness to think about it when I see those words, which also increases the magic/science behind this life hack. So if you’re looking for something in your life… be grateful, stay in love, know there is more to this life then just the black and white, the good and the bad. It’s all based off of you and what you believe. So knowing that there are ways to manipulate in a good way your reality take advantage of it, push forward, believe that magic is true (because science confirms it!) and don’t live a bland ordinary life based of what people say you can do or not!
Never stop believing in yourself, never stop pushing forward towards your dreams. The world is better off having you reach your dreams. If that dream is going to Japan, people depend on you to see that dreams do come true, no matter what the resistance! With that, this is my magic life hack that I can honestly say does make a difference, and it’s so easy to do… you can even be lazy and get a cool looking engraved water bottle from these guys “Blue Bottle Love“.
So to finish this off, start to watch your words, because they truly do affect your life. All religions have stated this as something be aware of. My mentor for the past Kevin Trudeau told me to read a few books based around this idea/fact.
These books are mostly Christian based but it couldn’t be clearer, believe in yourself as that’s where the first part of this comes from. You can read about how I came about wanting to go to Japan by reading this page which will then also lead to my acceptance to go to Japan in April of 2017 (confirmed).
Life is too fun, knowing how to play makes a difference for yourself and everyone around you. This is the best piece of advice I can give anyone entering into 2017 and beyond to accomplish their dreams and goals.
-Nihon Scope / Nathan Scheer
PS: There is a really amazing healing water located in the mountains of Colorado. I’ve actually drank this water before. It comes from a guy that bought a home in the back areas of Blackhawk Colorado. He ended up getting his water tested, and found that it’s the cleanest water possibly in the world! I had a infected tooth around the time I was first exposed to this water and when I drank his water it actually numbed my tooth making it feel 95% better for a short time (I’d swear it had drugs in it… it doesn’t just FYI)! I thought it was just water in general until I drank some well water from a friend and found it didn’t do the same thing, I spoke to him about this and he had the very same thing happen to him to confirm it was for real!
You can view more about his water at Uncle Charlies Ranch <- (you can actually buy some! – not affiliated)
Another interesting note is that after the Tsunami in 2011 I decided to change from going to school in Sendai to Kumamoto. We found that Kumamoto has some of the cleanest water in Japan being pumped through their shiritsu! (city). Although we ended up wanting to go to Fukuoka after thinking about it a bit further as we have some friends and clients in the city and Kumamoto is place better to go to after learning the language a bit further. They only had the YMCA there to teach Japanese and we wanted a few more option as well as an opportunity to gain our associates degree in Japanese! (SCORE!)
Nomihodai – Meaning, Etiquette and Precautions Before OrderingNomihodai, what does it mean and why is it so important… mostly to foreigners? Nomihodai means “All you can drink” or in Japanese the literal translation is Nomi 飲み = “Drink” and Hodai 放題 = “all you can” or sometimes called “Free Drink System”. This is a sort of option you can have with certain izakaya to bars and restaurants. There is also all you can eat (tabehodai) that at times couples with this type of promotion. From what I know of nomihodai, is that it ranges from $5 to $20 for 1 hours to 2 hours of all you can drink face wrecking fun.
Now many times you have to be aware of what you’re getting into, you may think that $5 is super cheap, and I’d say you’re right, especially to sit there for 1 hour to 2 hours sucking down alcohol. But you’ll find when you visit Japan that many of these places that offer nomihodai will also have some clauses in their “Terms of Service” which you should ask about before agreeing to nomihodai.
For example, you may enter into a bar and request nomihodai, you may actually have to pay an entrance fee and it can vary from place to place, which could range from $3 to $10 depending on where you go. Now, that’s not where it stops, you will want to also ask the greeter or host/hostess about the plate minimum. Now… what is a plate minimum? A plate minimum is a requirement to order X amount of dishes while you are drinking per person (usually). But usually this shouldn’t be a problem I’d hope for most people. You’re sitting there drinking, you think you would want to eat too right? So as to not entirely punish your liver, this usually is a wise idea.
So the $5 to $20 all you can drink ends up many times for 2 people being more like $40-$50 for an all your can drink fiasco, I’d say still for 2 people to go all out and spend only say $40 to have a hell of a time and get a bite to eat is pretty cool.
One thing to note is if you’re planning on a night of sorrowful drinking because your ex left you, then think again, as generally nomihodai can ONLY be ordered when 2 or more people are par-taking in the fiasco of controlled liver destruction. Of course I’m sure if you REALLY wanted to slam it home, you could possibly negotiate for 1. But, the fun of nomihodai is to have that unsuspecting friend to ambush with your recent breakup. Although there are izakaya, restaurants and bars that offer nomihodai openly, there are also several places that reserve this right to people who RSVP for a larger group, just keep your eyes open.
A Few Etiquette Rules to Keep in Mind:
Now here comes my main concern to all you Eggs out there looking to have your first izakaya, nomihodai or nomikai experience. There is something YOU MUST be aware of, there is an imposter that lurks in the darkness, claiming to be something of great value to the lives of Japan, but it’s sneaky, it’s not what it claims to be. What is this mysterious imposter?
Happoshu…. はっぽ酒
What is happoshu you may ask? Well to shine a light from heaven on to the sin of what happoshu is, it’s simply pretend beer. What do I mean by that? I mean that it’s light beers 2nd removed cousin, and it’s not just light it’s LIGHT beer. It’s considered a diet beer many times and has been quoted by some to taste like ‘weasel urine’ (you’ll see what I mean). The reason this wannabe beer… or rather alcoholic drink exists is to avoid tax margins that are imposed by the government of Japan. By either brewing the beer with non traditional ingredients like corn, soy, rice and potato’s they can effectively sell their beer for much much less as well effectively ruin your liver twice as quickly. The rule is that if there is less then 67% malt used in the beer it can then apply for tax cuts, and if there is NO malt, it’s consider a 3rd Tier Beer, I believe imported beer can also fall into this tax cut category as it’s not brewed in Japan so they can avoid this tax altogether (don’t quote me on that though).
Who drinks 3rd Tier Beers? Find out in Tokyo Desu’s article about Japan’s Gretest Faux Beers. I believe you should get an idea of why you should avoid these beers altogether, but more importantly you’ll discover useful reasons why you would even want to drink these ‘beverages’.
So when you go out to a restaurant or izakaya, make sure you ask if they have draft beer (nama biiru). If they act funny afterward, you know it’s for sure a sign to respect the liver god has given you and carry forth to the next possible choice. To really shine a light on the horrible-ness of these beverages take a look at the general rating (if you have not already) of the fake beers at beer advocate, you’ll notice only 3 out of the 65 listed ‘beers’ have a rating of 4/5 (80%) then quickly it buckles down into the high 1’s. For the most part, they’re pretty bad. But to be fair those ‘top’ rated happoshu beers only had 1 or 2 reviews.
The idea of nomihodai was take from the ‘All you can eat’ buffet restaurant types that were inspired originally by the Swedish back in the 1950’s in Tokyo… So you can certainly play this stuff your face attitude with nomihodai, but I’d say in ending have fun but know for the majority of Japan, nomihodai is not a place to smash your face in with a beer bottle, Japanese people actually are well known to keep it to a threshold they can manage (for the most part), so enjoy yourself but just know you might get a ‘yappari’ or ‘baka gaijin’ throw your way if you make an ass of yourself.
-Nihon Scope
