Kayabukiya Tavern
Encyclopedia
The is a traditional-style Japanese "sake-house" restaurant (izakaya
) located in the city of Utsunomiya
, north of Tokyo, Japan
. The location attracted international attention in 2008 when the Western media reported the tavern and its news movies were uploaded to YouTube
.
The tavern's owner, Kaoru Otsuka, owns two pet macaque
monkeys who are currently employed to work at the location. The first monkey, twelve-year-old "Yat-chan", is dressed in a shirt and shorts while he takes customers' drink orders and delivers them to the diners' tables. The restaurant's owner, Otsuka, reported that he never initially taught the monkeys; Yat-chan first learned from watching him work. Otsuka said, "It all started one day when I gave him a hot towel out of curiosity and he brought the towel to the customer." The younger macaque, named Fuku-chan, is currently four years old and has the main duty of bringing the attendees hot towels to clean their hands before ordering drinks. Fuku-chan has only two years of experience, while Yat-chan has been reportedly performing the job for a longer time.
Both monkeys receive boiled soya beans from customers as tips for their service. The monkeys' environment has been inspected to ensure proper treatment of the animals; due to Japanese animal rights
regulations, they are each only allowed to work for two hours a day. The owner says that he will be introducing more simian
s to work as waiters at Kayabukiya, and as of October 2008 is currently training three young monkeys to take on the job. The restaurant was also featured as a reward for the winning team in the third episode of Season Two of I Survived a Japanese Game Show
.
Izakaya
An is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. They are popular, casual places for after-work drinking.-Name:...
) located in the city of Utsunomiya
Utsunomiya, Tochigi
is the capital and most populous city of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. In October 2010 the city had an estimated population of 510,416 and a population density of 1,224.49 people per square kilometer. The total area is 416.84 km². had a population of 888,005 in the 2000 Census...
, north of Tokyo, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The location attracted international attention in 2008 when the Western media reported the tavern and its news movies were uploaded to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
The tavern's owner, Kaoru Otsuka, owns two pet macaque
Macaque
The macaques constitute a genus of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. - Description :Aside from humans , the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from Japan to Afghanistan and, in the case of the barbary macaque, to North Africa...
monkeys who are currently employed to work at the location. The first monkey, twelve-year-old "Yat-chan", is dressed in a shirt and shorts while he takes customers' drink orders and delivers them to the diners' tables. The restaurant's owner, Otsuka, reported that he never initially taught the monkeys; Yat-chan first learned from watching him work. Otsuka said, "It all started one day when I gave him a hot towel out of curiosity and he brought the towel to the customer." The younger macaque, named Fuku-chan, is currently four years old and has the main duty of bringing the attendees hot towels to clean their hands before ordering drinks. Fuku-chan has only two years of experience, while Yat-chan has been reportedly performing the job for a longer time.
Both monkeys receive boiled soya beans from customers as tips for their service. The monkeys' environment has been inspected to ensure proper treatment of the animals; due to Japanese animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
regulations, they are each only allowed to work for two hours a day. The owner says that he will be introducing more simian
Simian
The simians are the "higher primates" familiar to most people: the Old World monkeys and apes, including humans, , and the New World monkeys or platyrrhines. Simians tend to be larger than the "lower primates" or prosimians.- Classification and evolution :The simians are split into three groups...
s to work as waiters at Kayabukiya, and as of October 2008 is currently training three young monkeys to take on the job. The restaurant was also featured as a reward for the winning team in the third episode of Season Two of I Survived a Japanese Game Show
I Survived a Japanese Game Show
I Survived a Japanese Game Show is an American reality show that saw its first season premiere on ABC June 24, 2008. The show followed a group of Americans, who leave the United States for Japan where they competed in a Japanese style game show. The winner takes home US $250,000...
.