<h3>Yoronotaki, Mura-Sarai, Tsubohachi, Watami → Tori-Kikin, Kushikatsu Tanaka, Saizeriya &#8230;&#8230;</h3>
 Drinking parties in the Showa to mid-Heisei period were often held at so-called &#8220;chain izakayas&#8221; such as Yoronotaki, Murasarai, Tsubohachi, Tengu, Shiroki-ya, Watami, etc. &#8230;&#8230;, There were many businessmen and students.
 Such izakayas offered a wide variety of menu items, and many of the generation may have had the experience of having a large party in a spacious room with a large number of people, or a joint party.
<figure id="attachment_382774" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-382774" style="width: 3508px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c610246e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/636d9c71dbae07a135f17b76be011b2d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-382774" class="wp-caption-text"> In the Showa to mid-Heisei period, chain izakaya were the standard for &#8220;drinking parties. The photo shows a scene in Shinjuku in 2007 (PHOTO: AFRO)</figcaption></figure>
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 Time has moved on, and now that we have passed through the COVID-19 crisis, which placed restrictions on banquets and dinners for large groups, or perhaps even slightly before the COVID-19 crisis, many of us probably have fewer opportunities to drink at such chain izakaya.
 The drinking style has shifted from chain izakayas to casual drinking at reasonably priced family restaurants and Chinese chains, which have given rise to such names as &#8220;Gusto drinking,&#8221; &#8220;Ousho drinking,&#8221; and &#8220;Hidakaya drinking.
 In addition, Tori Aristocrat, Kushikatsu Tanaka, Saizeriya, &#8230;&#8230; Chinese, yakitori, shish-kebabs, Italian, etc., are all reasonably priced chains with a narrow focus on food categories (genres), and the style of drinking alone or in small groups at such chains has become a popular choice for people who are not conscious of the price. The style of drinking alone or with a small number of people at such chains has become well established.
 What is the reason for this shift in popularity from &#8220;anything goes&#8221; izakaya to casual drinking at family restaurants and genre-focused eateries?
 We asked Nishikawa Ryujin, a marketing consultant and visiting professor at Takushoku University.
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<h3> Three Changes in Japanese Society&#8221; in the Background</h3>
 There are three changes in Japanese society that have led to the shift in the popularity of chain drinking,&#8221; Nishikawa begins.
 Mr. Nishikawa begins his interview by saying, &#8220;There are three changes in Japanese society that are behind the shift in the popularity of chain restaurant drinking. The three changes in Japanese society,&#8221; Nishikawa said, &#8220;are as follows.
 1. Collapse of the seniority system and lifetime employment
 The sense of working at the same place for the rest of one&#8217;s life has disappeared, and the idea that a company or government office is like a family has almost disappeared. 
 Therefore, not only do drinking parties feel like family dinners, but if you don&#8217;t go, you don&#8217;t get promoted, you don&#8217;t get information, female employees and staff members serve drinks, and senior employees take care of their juniors while telling them stories about &#8220;back in our day. The drinking parties of the past are gone.
 The same tendency existed in university clubs, but with the collapse of the large family atmosphere, izakayas with banquet space and large tatami rooms may be considered to have reached the end of their usefulness.
 2. Diversification of lifestyles 
 People are now thinking that they value their hobbies, their own time, and family time more than their company or career. More and more people are not choosing to get married. 
 The way people work has changed and diversified, with remote work, etc., and the place and time of work, as well as the way they take time off, has also become more varied. The society has changed from a &#8220;mass&#8221; to an &#8220;individual&#8221; society, where people used to mix together in a melting pot, to a mosaic of disparate things. 
 People of different ages and lifestyles do not have to try to understand each other. In short, it is a fragmentation. In addition, there is the disparity that has developed during the &#8220;lost 30 years. In such a society made up of &#8220;individuals,&#8221; the sense of having a party with everyone in the same way has been gradually disappearing. 
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3. Declining and Aging Drinking Population
 As I teach at a university, I get the impression that 30% to 50% of university students do not drink alcohol on a regular basis. It costs money, and in recent years, people have become more health-conscious. There are many middle-aged and older people who stopped after the COVID-19 crisis. 
 Nowadays, I think that drinking itself has become a leisure activity, a hobby to indulge one&#8217;s taste. Just like pachinko, discos, clubs, karaoke, bowling &#8230;&#8230; and various other hobbies, drinking alcohol has now become a form of enjoyment. 
 Because it is a hobby, I think there is a trend toward drinking alone or with two or three like-minded friends. So I think that the opportunity to drink in a group with friends from hobbies, mountain climbing, futsal, choral singing, and such like, remains better than company drinking parties.&#8221; 
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<h3> The Four &#8220;P &#8220;s of Chain Store Hits </h3>
 Based on the three changes in Japanese society mentioned above, Mr. Nishikawa further explained the reasons for the &#8220;4 &#8216;Ps&#8217; of chain restaurant hits&#8221;. The &#8220;P&#8221; stands for &#8220;P&#8221; in &#8220;performance.
 The four &#8220;P&#8217;s&#8221; Nishikawa presented are as follows,
<ul>
<li> COSPA (cost performance)</li>
<li> Time Performance</li>
<li> Health performance (health performance)</li>
<li> MyPa (Mind Performance)</li>
</ul>
 The four &#8220;P&#8217;s&#8221; are
 The most important is cost performance. It is a combination of price, quantity, and quality. Next is &#8220;Taipa. Everyone is busy with various things, such as side jobs, hobbies, housework, and social networking. In such a situation, you can go there quickly, drink, eat, and go home quickly. 
 The COVID-19 crisis has created a trend for people to go to a nearby chain for a quick drink rather than to a place near work, a terminal station, or a downtown area. 
<figure id="attachment_382777" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-382777" style="width: 4589px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cdeb86ce"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/07/1506c05d7ef16e03afbfc9916323c5de.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-382777" class="wp-caption-text"> A magnum-size (1500 mL) bottle of wine costs 1,000 yen per bottle at Saizeriya. It is also popular with one-person diners.</figcaption></figure>
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 Nishikawa adds two more &#8220;P&#8217;s&#8221; to the two basic &#8220;P&#8217;s&#8221; that are often heard in everyday life: &#8220;The third &#8216;P&#8217; is the &#8216;P&#8217; of &#8216;P,&#8217; which is &#8216;P,&#8217; the &#8216;P&#8217; of &#8216;P.&#8217;
 The third &#8220;P&#8221; is health performance. For example, Tori Aristocrat insists on using domestically raised chickens, and we want our food to be not only inexpensive and delicious, but also at least a little healthy. For example, a beef bowl with a salad, or ramen rice is delicious, but I would hold off on the rice and at least have some bean sprouts or some other vegetable (laughs).
 And finally, there is &#8220;mind performance.
 The last one is &#8220;mind performance,&#8221; which simply means, &#8220;I feel a little better. With taxes, insurance premiums, electricity and gas bills rising, and real wages not rising at all, you can have a quick drink at a low price and feel better, albeit in a small way. That&#8217;s what Maipa is all about. 
 In fact, many of today&#8217;s popular drinking establishments seem to satisfy these four &#8220;Ps.
 Unless society changes drastically, this trend is likely to continue.

 Writer, editor, interviewer. He has been a writer since he was a student, and currently writes mainly entertainment articles and interviews for websites and magazines.

 Satoru Ota

 Afro

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