This year I spent many evenings photographing salarymen getting together with other salarymen at a bar or izakaya, the so-called “nomikai” (drinking meeting). Both izakaya and nomikai were new concepts to me when I relocated to Tokyo a few years ago.
What is an izakaya? That is a question I contemplated this year. I supposed it meant a casual restaurant, or diner as we would say in the U.S. It is more than that. At first, I couldn’t even recognize an izakaya just from the outside. Then someone told me to look for the red paper lantern (or akachochin) by the doorway, or the signs advertising the drink called “Hoppi.” Recently, I had lunch in a small restaurant near the office in Shinagawa. “Is this an izakaya?” I asked my co-worker. “Not now, it isn’t, but it turns into an izakaya in the evening,” he replied. Izakaya is, I guess, more than a place. It is a frame of mind, an experience shared with fellow salarymen. Time ceases to exist in an izakaya, it seems. It is OK to stay for an hour, or a couple hours, or all evening. The food is simple, home-style cooking – tasty and comforting. The drink flows freely, beer, sake, shochu, wine, you name it.
What about nomikai? I’m still exploring the meaning of nomikai, maybe. Sometimes, nomikai is an actual meeting, where business decisions are made, or at least discussed. Sometimes, nomikai is a team-building exercise. Sometimes, it is just getting together to drink, to relax, to let off steam.
Shimbashi and Yurakucho are well known as neighborhoods where salarymen congregate in izakaya for nomikai. This year I spent many evenings exploring these areas, following my camera. Izakaya can be found in almost any neighborhood in Tokyo and I continue in my search for salaryman.
I deeply appreciate the many times my colleagues from work have invited me to join them for nomikai, and allowed me to photograph them. I want to give a special thank you to those colleagues who gave their permission to include my photographs of them in this exhibit. It means a great deal to me.
This exhibition is part III of my salaryman series. Part I was “Salaryman on the Train,” which was exhibited in 2007 at Art Space Motor Gallery. Part II was “First Train/Last Train,” exhibited last year, also at Art Space Motor Gallery. Will there be another chapter in the series? Discovering salaryman culture is like peeling an onion: each layer reveals another layer beneath it.
Visit the gallery Japan: Salaryman