Kayabukiya Tavern

The Kayabukiya Tavern (居酒屋 かやぶき, izakaya kayabuki) is a traditional-style Japanese "sake-house" restaurant (izakaya) located in the city of Utsunomiya, north of Tokyo, Japan.[1][2]

Kayabukiya Tavern
Restaurant information
Owner(s)Kaoru Otsuka
Food typeJapanese
CityUtsunomiya
CountryJapan

The tavern's owner, Kaoru Otsuka, owns two pet macaque monkeys who are currently employed to work at the location.[3] 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.[3] 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.[4] Fuku-chan has only two years of experience, while Yat-chan has been reportedly performing the job for a longer time.[4]

Both monkeys receive boiled soya beans from customers as tips for their service.[5] The monkeys' environment has been inspected to ensure proper treatment of the animals;[6] due to Japanese animal rights regulations, they are each only allowed to work for two hours a day.[1] 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.

The tavern was abandoned after the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami. The monkeys still belong to the owner. The current state of the tavern and the monkeys was documented in a 2014 movie by artist Pierre Huyghe.[7]

References
  1. Jamie Rhein (2008-10-11). "Monkey waiters in Japan a hit with diners". Gadling.com. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  2. Gary Fennelly (2008-10-06). "Monkey works as waiter in Japanese restaurant". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  3. "Japanese Tavern Hired Pair Of Monkeys As Waiters". Javno.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  4. "Monkey waiters in Japan". Reuters. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  5. "Monkey waiters better than some human counterparts". 3 News. 2008-10-07. Archived from the original on 2011-05-21. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  6. "Monkeys work in Japanese restaurant". BBC News. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
  7. "Monkey waiters and axolotls the disconcerting art of Pierre Huyghe". The Guardian. 2014-09-17. Retrieved 2015-07-24.

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