"Kakuuchi" is a simple custom of drinking sake or beer poured into a wooden masu or cup in a corner of a liquor store while standing. The most likely origin is Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, where I'm from.

For me, having been born and raised here, kaku-uchi is a culture that I truly love. Kitakyushu is deeply imprinted with the memories of the land that only an authentic kaku-uchi can have, the lifestyles of the workers who have supported the city, and above all, human kindness.

This time, we visited five stores in the city. All of them are famous stores that combine the city, people, and alcohol.
We will introduce all the charms of Kitakyushu, including its unique climate and historical and cultural background.

Differences from standing bars

"Kakuuchi" has a unique sound, and there are several theories about its origin, including one that is said to come from "drinking while standing on the corner" at a liquor store.

On the other hand, kakuuchi is often confused with 'tachi-nomi', which generally refers to a style of restaurant where there are no chairs.

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[Trivia] November 11th is "Tachinomi Day"! We'll tell you about the origins of tachinomi and how to enjoy it.

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Kakuuchi has the following distinct characteristics:

1. Attached to a liquor store: The main business is the sale of alcohol under a retail license, and is distinct from the food and beverage industry.
2. Closely linked to work culture: Shift workers grab a drink in the morning or after the night shift.
3. Community: Regular customers and the store owner know each other through daily interactions.

Kitakyushu in particular was once counted as one of the "four major industrial zones (Keihin, Chukyo, Hanshin, and Kitakyushu)." From before the war through to the period of high economic growth, coal mining, steelmaking, and ports were thriving, and the living conditions of the workers on these grounds formed the cultural background.
Dropping in to a corner bar after work and having a quick drink and snack is a reward that relieves fatigue and satisfies hunger, while also helping you to refresh yourself before heading home. In modern terms, it is a "third place" between the workplace and home.

Now that that's out of the way, let's take a look at some of the famous restaurants that have supported the history of Kitakyushu, divided into three of the city's busiest areas.

① Akakabe Sake Shop (inside Kokura Tanga Market)

Kokura is the setting of the novel "The Life of Muhomatsu," which is famous for the phrase, "Born in Kokura, raised in Genkai."
People may have the image of Kokura as a "town of hot-tempered men," but it is also a cultural city with Kokura Castle towering in the center of the city, where literary figures such as Mori Ogai and Matsumoto Seicho once lived, and which is also home to an impressive literature museum.

Kokura Castle

Mori Ogai's former residence

Located in the center of Kokura is the Tanga Market, a lively market lined with fresh fish and prepared foods that has been a part of the common people's kitchen since the early Showa period.
In recent years, the area has been hit by multiple fires, destroying many of the old shops and historic movie theaters, but it continues to thrive thanks to the strong bonds of the local community.

[Akabe Liquor Store] originally operated at the back of the market, but due to a fire in 2022, it moved to the open-air market site, and although its store floor space has been halved, it has continued to operate by relocating its tables and shelves.

The store opens at 10am and stocks a wide range of famous sake from all over Japan. On the day of our visit, the POP signs in the store were promoting seasonal limited edition products such as Yatagarasu Namazake and Natsuzake.
The snacks include oden, tamagoyaki, stewed beef tendons, and among them, Kokura's traditional local dish "Nukadaki" is made by cooking blue fish such as sardines and mackerel in "nuka bed (nuka miso)". It's great to be able to enjoy a cup of this as a snack!

Perhaps because I arrived late at night, there were no other customers there, so I decided to ask the owner a few questions about the shop.

When I asked about the origin of the store's name, "Red Wall," I was told that it was because there was a "red wall" in Hiroshima, where the founder was born.
When talking about red walls in Hiroshima, one may think of Saijo (Higashihiroshima City), where a red brick sake brewery still remains, but unfortunately, it is not clear where this is specifically.

Inside the store, there are photos of Showa-era celebrities who have visited in the past, as well as posters of nostalgic sake and beer makers, creating a nice atmosphere. You can feel the strong will to continue the love for the local area and the local culture from the attitude, and you can't help but stand up straight. Truly "refined."

Kokura's specialty "Mackerel cooked in rice bran". The deep flavor that permeates the meat goes perfectly with the umami of sake.

②Hayashida Liquor Store (Around Kokura Station)

Located just a few minutes' walk from Kokura Station, Hayashida Sake Shop is an antenna shop for Hayashi Ryuhei Sake Brewery (established in 1837) in Miyako Town, Fukuoka Prefecture. Opened in 1933, it offers a selection of its own brewed sake, including Zanshin and Kusugiku, and you can enjoy standing drinks at the counter from the evening onwards.

"Zanshin" is a word used in traditional Japanese culture such as martial arts, tea ceremony, and calligraphy. It has the meaning of "keeping your spirit even after you have performed the technique." It is said to represent the spirit of sake brewing, which is to never lose the desire to challenge yourself, no matter how confident you are in your creation.
On the counter is a taste map in both Japanese and English that shows the flavors and aromas of all Zanshin products. Choose three of them and enjoy them to understand with your tongue what the words mean.

Choose three types of "Zanshin" from the many available and compare them

At the bar, a young woman was drinking alone while waiting for a date. Later, a man who seemed to be her boyfriend came in and happily looked over the drinks, asking, "Which drink should I get? How about this one?" It was a "decisive moment" in which I witnessed the culture of kaku-uchi being passed down to the younger generation.

"Local sake, friendly staff, and a comfortable atmosphere." Hayashida Sake Shop is a "new" place that satisfies your curiosity about sake you've never tried before.

3. Tanakaya Liquor Store (Kokura Kyomachi)

Kyomachi, a 5-6 minute walk from Kokura Station, was once home to Mori Ogai, a great Meiji period author.
Currently, it is a food and drink district packed with bars, and Tanakaya Liquor Store is located in a residential area past the old houses, where Showa-era housing complex buildings stand.

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary liquor store you might find in any town, but once you step inside, you're enveloped in a unique atmosphere.

Near the entrance, there are shelves lined with dried goods and sweets, and as you head towards the back, you'll see the owner standing next to the cash register on the right. Further inside, there is a simple table where about eight customers are having a lively and fun time drinking. "Sit over here! Where are you from, brother?" he beckons. Kokura is known for having a lot of friendly people.

When I asked, everyone there knew each other as local residents. It was a habit for them to gather here every Wednesday. Each person picked out their favorite sake from the display case and enjoyed it at their own pace with some dried snacks.

Looking at the wall, I noticed a notice from the restaurant that read, "To customers who drink or eat standing up." It had been there for decades, and I wanted to hear the story of the owner who made and put it up.

The "letter" from the time of the company's founding remains the same

When the company was founded in 31, Kitakyushu was in the midst of a period of rapid economic growth.
Kokura was home to a factory of Sumitomo Metals (now Nippon Steel Corporation), and workers would stop by the bar on their way home from the night shift to have a drink with their colleagues or by themselves, enjoying the moment before heading home.
Some of the customers who still frequent the restaurant today are people who were part of its daily life back then. It is truly a famous restaurant filled with history and memories.

The owner has been watching over the restaurant for about 70 years since it was founded. Each and every laugh line seems to reflect the various days of the restaurant, and listening to his stories warms my heart. He kindly told me to write an article about the restaurant as it is.

The owner has been watching over the business for nearly 70 years since it first opened

④Uozumi Liquor Store (Moji Port)

About 20 minutes on the JR Kagoshima Main Line from Kokura, the author heads to Mojiko Station, the northernmost point of Kyushu.
Mojiko Port flourished as an international trading port during the Meiji period and is a place that marked a turning point in history. The station is a retro building built in the Taisho period and is designated as a national important cultural property. It is truly beautiful with the setting sun behind it.

On a hill overlooking the station stands a huge wooden building called Sankiro. It is a high-class restaurant founded in 1906, and is said to have been visited by such people as Sazo Idemitsu (founder of Idemitsu Kosan) and Eisaku Sato (former prime minister). After going out of business in the 30s, the family that ran it lived there for many years, but it is now preserved as a cultural asset and is open to the public.

Directly below Sankiro is Uozumi Liquor Store, a single-story wooden building with a large sign reading "Uozumi" above its wooden-framed glass doors.
The restaurant was founded in 4, so it will soon be celebrating its 1929th anniversary. Inside the restaurant, there are old photographs on the walls of the elegant Kanmon Bridge that leads to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi on the opposite bank, giving a sense of the accumulated history of the port town.

The thick counter, with the time imprinted in the wood grain, is about three meters wide. I arrived at dusk and the only other customer was an elderly woman.
He told me that he had worked at the port customs office for a long time, and stayed there after retirement, living a quiet life, but he had been coming to this bar since his active days, and would come just for a drink before going home. He told me how even when he was feeling down about work or home, spending time here saved him.

By the way, the owner, Uozumi-san, was actually a high school classmate of my friend. He said that even back then, Uozumi-san was a quiet but strong-willed person. He spoke slowly, thinking carefully about each word he said.

This kind of interaction fits perfectly with the atmosphere of this bar, and is full of flavor. That's why I understand why this person continues to come here. Mojiko is a retro port town where old buildings, such as trading companies and marine insurance companies from the past, still remain. Dock workers who transported coal and workers on the freight siding must have once climbed the hill listening to the steam whistles and enjoyed a drink here as an after-work ritual.

The manufacturer of the sake with an original design featuring the scenery of Mojiko is Mizokami Shuzo Co., Ltd., a long-established sake brewery in Yahatahigashi Ward, Kitakyushu City.

⑤Inokuchi Liquor Store (Kurosaki)

The last place is Kurosaki in Yahata Nishi Ward, Kitakyushu City. This is the town where I was born and raised, and it is truly my "hometown."

When I was in kindergarten and elementary school, Kurosaki was in the midst of the high economic growth period of the Showa era. On the sea side across the train tracks from the city, chemical and cement factories were lined up, and literally rainbow smoke was rising from their chimneys. There were many shopping arcades running from the station, and they were overflowing with shoppers at dusk and on weekends.

However, now, although the factories have downsized and the sky has become clearer, the roof of one of the shopping arcades has been removed, the huge department store (Kurosaki Sogo) has closed, and all the movie theaters that once stood there have disappeared, making us keenly aware of the changing times.
Inokuchi Liquor Store is located in the Kurosaki shopping district and is still in business today. It was founded in 13, making it a long-established store that is equivalent to 1938 years old in human years.

There are two entrances. The left entrance is the retail section, a typical liquor store with refrigerators and shelves of various alcoholic beverages. The right entrance is the main entrance to the corner bar called "Inokuchi" with a white curtain hanging. The display window is lined with Kirin Beer bottles with designs from each era of the Meiji, Taisho, Showa, and Heisei eras, giving a sense of the store's history.

The owner, who was born and raised in Kurosaki, and his mother run the bar, and they serve a wide variety of alcoholic beverages at the L-shaped counter, including bottled beer, shochu, whiskey, and chuhai. The snacks are dry and cost around 100 yen, which will surely tickle your nostalgia.

Inokuchi Liquor Store was started by the owner's grandfather, and originally the area around the store was just vacant sandy land.
Soon, other shops opened around the area, and it soon transformed into a bustling shopping arcade. The owner's mother started working at the storefront the day after she got married. On New Year's Day, she was busy serving gifts for the people who came round to buy sake bottles, while also tending to the customers who flocked to the bar one after another. She was in a really desperate situation.

The owner grew up watching the daily life of the bar from his childhood. From a child's point of view, the nonbe customers were sometimes strange. One time, a group of friendly customers started drinking happily, but then they started arguing and it turned into a commotion.
On this day, a regular customer who runs a snack bar nearby was chatting with the owner's mother, along with another female regular.
In the middle of the conversation, the author jumps in. "Kurosaki is my hometown. When I was a child, I got my foot stuck in a drain in front of a store and couldn't get it out. Soon a huge crowd of people gathered around it. That was my first memory of this town," he says. And in an instant, the barrier between us melted down.

The cheerful owner, a mother, is standing next to the cash register at the end of the counter. The sake is "Kitaya," a famous sake from Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, which has been around for a long time.

As I was doing this, a man who looked to be in his 80s came into the bar, had one drink in silence, and then left.
It only took 15 minutes. I heard that he used to be a streetcar driver who ran east to west through Kitakyushu. It must be a routine that hasn't changed for decades.
The many events that have happened here, including mine, seem to permeate the subdued colors of the counter and the sooty main pillar next to it.

Each has its own "history" and "smell"

Each of the five restaurants introduced here has its own unique personality, and each has a unique relationship with the owner and regular customers, as well as the history and atmosphere of Kitakyushu.
Drinking while standing allows you to connect with anyone and has the freedom to go home when you want. There is an informal, real way of life. Because it is run by a liquor store, the prices are low and anyone can drop in easily. That is the appeal of Kaku-uchi.

Many of the fathers who once worked in the factories and ports of each town have passed away, and memories of those times are fading away. But the corner bar at the liquor store, where regular customers from the past used to be able to enjoy all their joys and sorrows, remains a vivid memory in the towns.
Kaku-uchi, which used to be populated by men in all-black work clothes who would stop by after a night shift or to get a drink to cheer themselves up before going to work, is now undergoing major changes.

While talking to the owner of Inokuchi Liquor Store, which was my last stop, I heard the following story.

Apparently, there has been an increase in the number of young women travelling from all over the country relying on information on the Internet in the hopes of experiencing the authentic corner drinking culture.
Recently, the mayor of Kitakyushu City visited the area and enjoyed a kakuuchi bar himself. He spoke passionately about how he wants to promote Kitakyushu as a "city of kakuuchi bars and sushi" to the rest of the country. The video of the event will be released in the future.

Furthermore, Kitakyushu has been promoting tourism and urban development that utilizes local resources in recent years. Tourism menus that combine these two activities, such as "Kakuuchi + Sushi Tours" and "Pairing of Local Sake with Sushi," have appeared and are being supported by the local government.

If that happens, more travelers than ever before will come from all over the country to experience the culture. The next generation of young people will come to Kitakyushu in search of a moment of relaxation. Kaku-uchi may become a community hub for Japanese society, and indeed the world, in the future.

This movement aims to pass on the culture to all younger generations, not just to make kaku-uchi a tourist attraction. A traditional atmosphere with a touch of sophistication - perhaps this is a new form of cultural acceptance in Kitakyushu?

May a cup of Kakuuchi continue to accompany you on your journey.

writer:
Fumiaki Kishihara / Sommelier, HBA cocktail advisor. He loves sake and other alcoholic beverages around the world. He has served as brand manager for the world's three major beer brands and Western alcoholic beverages.
32 years of experience in the alcoholic beverage industry both in Japan and overseas, including running a craft brewery in Kyoto. Supports the global expansion of ambitious Japanese alcoholic beverages. Representative of BOONE LLC. National Licensed Guide-Interpreter. Resides in Tokyo.