It’s a Wednesday evening at Marco, an izakaya in central Tokyo, where the smell of pork sizzling over charcoal hangs in the air. The L-shaped counter and tables fill gradually as the night wears on — salarymen loosening their ties, a couple sharing a plate before catching a train, regulars who don’t need to look at the menu. Izakaya like Marco are everywhere in the capital — on nearly every commercial block, tucked under train tracks, stacked above street level in narrow buildings.
Part pub, part neighborhood restaurant, an izakaya is often as much a social space as a place to eat and drink. Marco takes its name from the porcine protagonist of Hayao Miyazaki’s 1992 film “Porco Rosso.” It’s also a nod to the establishment’s main fare. Customers order yakiton — grilled pork and offal skewers — and wash them down with beer and Hoppy, the beer-flavored, near-alcohol-free mixer long associated with the city’s working-class drinking culture.
Smoke curls from the grill; the room fills with overlapping conversations and the clink of glasses. Nothing about the scene suggests an industry in trouble.
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