Yatai streets light up Fukuoka nights. Nowadays, yatai are bustling all over the city, including Tenjin, Hakata, and Nagahama, but the yatai street in Nakasu is also a special place with a long history. Shinryu, a yatai located in Nakasu 1-chome, is a long-established shop beloved by locals and tourists alike. When we spoke to the owner, Hatakeyuki, we learned about his passion for protecting the place that connects people through yatai culture.

The history of food stalls and the journey of Shinryu

Yatai (food stalls) spread throughout Japan as temporary stores after the war. While they have been steadily declining nationwide, Fukuoka City's food stall district is showing signs of revival. As they were forced to shrink due to deteriorating hygiene and illegal management methods, Mayor Takashima stated in 2011 that "we want to reconsider the role of food stalls and preserve them," which triggered the revival of Fukuoka's food stall district. Since then, the environment and management system have been improved, and the public recruitment of food stalls has encouraged young people to get involved.

Among the Fukuoka yatai, "Shinryu" is a popular long-established store in the Nakasu area. Founded in 1987, it played a part in one of the 12 Nakasu yatai at the time. After that, the opening of the large shopping facility Canal City gave a boost, and the whole of Nakasu was full of energy. "In the last 10 years, Nakasu's yatai district has been featured in the media more and more, and it has started to regain the bustle of its heyday," says owner Yuki Hata.

"Shinryu" has also changed with the times. "When the ordinance was revised in 2013 to limit the succession of food stalls to direct relatives, I protected this store that I inherited from my husband, and now my son's family and daughter are helping out too. My goal is to pass this store on to the future," says Hata with a gentle smile.

The daily life and hardships of a food stall

At 5pm, Shinryu's day begins with the setting up of the food stall. By ordinance, food stalls can only be set up between 5pm and 4am the following morning. The stall is quickly assembled after being delivered by vendors and is ready to open at 6pm. A line forms before opening time, and all 14 seats fill up quickly. Closing time varies depending on the day, but Shinryu is open until around 1am.

"Setting up and taking down the stall is hard work, and there are many difficult aspects to running a stall, such as standing for long periods of time and cooking efficiently in a limited space," says Hata. The stall is closed on days with heavy rain or strong winds, and measures must be taken to protect against the heat of summer and the cold of winter. However, he says that there are also good things about running a stall like that. "In winter, we put plastic sheets around the stall, and this is the time of year when it feels most like a stall. Gathering everyone around the stall in the cold and eating piping hot oden is the best part of a stall."


Moreover, in recent years they have had to deal with unprecedented situations. "It was especially difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. Food stalls have small counters to begin with, so infection prevention measures are difficult. When opening hours were limited to 8 p.m. and the sale of alcohol was banned, we were unable to operate for a while."

When the shop finally reopened after being closed for about two years, many regular customers welcomed them back. With the end of the coronavirus pandemic, many customers have finally found a comfortable place to be.

"These days we have a lot of foreign tourists, and we also have young people and families coming from within Japan. We value each encounter as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and strive to create a store that makes customers want to come back."

Relationship with the local community

Nakasu's food stalls have deep ties with the local community, participating in the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival, a famous Fukuoka festival, and other local events. Hata-san, in particular, holds multiple roles, including as the head of the Nakasu Beverage Association, and is therefore highly active outside of his usual business hours, visiting related food stalls and working with Hakata Police Station to eradicate alcoholism. It is because he values face-to-face relationships with other food stalls and the local community that Hata-san's "Shinryu" continues to be loved by the people.

The appeal of "Shinryu" and the owner's thoughts

The most popular menu item at Shinryu is the "yaki ramen" that originated from a Fukuoka food stall. Other popular items include mentaiko cheese gyoza. In recent years, with the increase in foreign tourists, they have been working to revamp their services, such as multilingual support and online payment.

"The appeal of yatai is that tourists and locals can enjoy interacting with each other. Strangers can become friends across the counter and have fun at events, which I think is a culture unique to yatai that goes beyond restaurants. The casual atmosphere that makes it easy to drop in is also one of its attractions."

Hata has created the "Hakata Yatai Bar Hopping Map," an initiative to help tourists and those who have never been to a yatai before to more easily enjoy the yatai district of Nakasu.

"Even if you are not familiar with food stalls, I want you to first enjoy the unique atmosphere of a food stall. I want people who are traveling alone and women to feel comfortable using Shinryu. The words 'It was delicious' from everyone are what motivates me in my activities."

By continuing to evolve with the local community while inheriting the yatai culture, Shinryu will continue to light up the nights of Nakasu.

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Hakata Nakasu Food Stall Shinryu
Location: Along Seiryu Park, 1-8 Nakasu, Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
6 minutes walk from HOTEL RESOL TRINITY HAKATA
Introduction site: https://yokanavi.com/yatai/122475/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/comeonshinryu/
X: https://x.com/come_on_shinryu
*For more information about the event, please see the link above.