When the white lanterns are lit

It was just before midnight. White lanterns sway softly in the breeze as you pass through the neon-lit Fuse drinking district. When you pass through the noren (curtain), you are already greeted by the aroma of fried food and steam.

Inside the restaurant, nostalgic hit charts and the sound of cutting boards echoed. Even if someone is talking, no one is forced to listen. Such an atmosphere lives and breathes as the “daily life” of the restaurant.

The master of this restaurant is Takuya, who hails from Tokyo.

He does not say much while cooking, but he wears an original “Midnight Diner” T-shirt with the familiar logo on the back. He has a friendly atmosphere, but he never talks too much.

I’ve been in the restaurant business for a long time. I found myself in Fuse,” he says with a smile in his voice, which has the relaxed air of an adult.

He is not nosy or preachy. He just listens quietly and is a good listener and night watchman. There is not much of the “old man” feel that is typical of Osaka. But this sense of distance was just right for me when I first moved to Osaka.

Late-night set menus

The most popular is the Filet Cutlet Set Meal.

The three cutlets, deep-fried to order, are crispy and light, and the juices from the tender meat spread in your mouth. The cutlets are topped with a generous amount of sweet and spicy sauce and are served with a generous amount of lettuce on the side. Freshly cooked white rice and miso soup with a raw egg floating in it.

With each bite, one’s stomach is filled with a sense of relief and surprise that there is a set meal that can be so tenderly delivered to the late-night stomach.

An L-shaped counter surrounds the kitchen. In one corner, today’s side dishes are quietly lined up. Eggplant stew, deep-fried ham cutlet, and boiled broccoli.

None of the dishes are out of the ordinary, but they are somehow nostalgic. Beyond the steamy air, the scene looks like an ordinary family dinner.

Many people order hot ochazuke, a bowl of rice topped with dashi broth, as a topping. After the rice goes down your throat, your body relaxes. You finally realize that you have been tired. Such a moment comes without a sound.

What is conveyed though it is not spoken.

The master has no more words than necessary. However, there are words that come back to him in a natural timing, when he speaks to himself. Not too heavy, not too light. They are there in just the right amount.

I don’t want anyone to listen to me. I just want to feel safe and shut up. On nights like that, it’s just right.

Even if I don’t say, “I’ll be back again,” I find myself walking through the curtain again in a few days’ time. It is probably not only the taste of the food, but also the soft “air” that flows through the restaurant.

Late-night diner” is always there to receive someone tonight.

The nights in Fuse are changing little by little. New restaurants open and disappear, and the colors of the signs change little by little. But this white lantern is still there.

The light is not flashy, but it is visible to those who need it. It does not say, “Welcome home,” but it does say, “I’m here. They float softly on the street corners at night.

Alone or together. With or without words. Under the white lanterns, everyone is the same, eating their meals and spending their time quietly.

It was a night when the master’s words, “There’s nothing special about it,” were strangely poignant.

It is a night in Fuse. Under a small lantern, another meal for one is waiting for you today. It looks like that “late-night diner,” but it is indeed a unique place to stay at night.

Tonight, too, its light is stopping someone’s footsteps.