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A Japanese izakaya chain has discontinued its “face slap service” after receiving a buyer grievance about damage and fearing a blow to its status.
The Yotteba chain, identified for its inexpensive beer and hen wings, beforehand allowed clients to obtain a pointy slap on the face – identified domestically as a binta – from a waitress for 500 yen (£2.70). For an extra 100 yen (£0.5), diners might even select their most well-liked workers member to ship the stinging blow.
Initially meant as a post-meal gimmick to assist patrons “sober up”, the service appeared fashionable in area of interest circles, with social media movies displaying amused onlookers applauding patrons who endured the slap. Nevertheless, a grievance filed by a buyer claiming damage proved to be the ultimate straw.
A spokesperson for Tokyo-based Mission M, which operates Yotteba’s shops throughout Japan, defined the choice. “We’ve got been doing it at our eating places for greater than two years now, however we didn’t suppose it was highly regarded,” the unnamed advertising official advised This Week in Asia. “Additionally, our chain is getting greater, and we needed to alter our picture.”
The consultant confirmed to the South China Morning Submit that the slap service ended two months in the past following the damage incident however declined to offer additional particulars.
Whereas Yotteba’s slapping gimmick has formally ended, it was not the primary of its form in Japan. One other izakaya chain, Shachihoko-ya in Nagoya, gained related notoriety in 2012 for its “Nagoya Woman’s Slap” service, the place clients paid 300 yen ( (£1.53) for a slap delivered by kimono-clad waitresses. For a surcharge of 500 yen (£2.70), patrons might choose particular workers members to carry out the duty.
Movies of the weird service resurfaced on social media lately, attracting hundreds of views and humorous commentary. Some clips confirmed patrons thanking waitresses after receiving a slap, whereas others appeared to embrace the service as a part of the restaurant’s quirky allure.
The viral consideration led Shachihoko-ya to concern a press release clarifying that the service had been discontinued years earlier. “Shachihoko-ya at the moment doesn’t provide slaps,” the restaurant mentioned in a put up on X. “We admire the eye it has acquired as we speak, however we can’t accommodate visits with the intention of receiving slaps.”
The origins of the time period binta hint again to southern Japan’s Kagoshima area, the place it initially meant “head” within the native dialect. Throughout the Meiji period (1868-1912), it turned related to slapping as cops have been identified to self-discipline offenders with a pointy smack to the pinnacle.
Regardless of its controversial historical past and surprising resurgence, the period of face-smacking providers in Japan’s izakayas seems to have come to an abrupt finish.
