On a bitterly cold winter evening few sights are more welcoming than the cheerful glow of the large red lanterns that hang outside traditional restaurants. They promise noodles, eel or yakitori chicken, or advertize an all-purpose izakaya tavern. But the underlying message is the same: Here you will find good, simple nourishment. And, invariably, sake.
The lantern outside Otako spells out its specialty in bold, black hiragana script: oden, the traditional hodgepodge hot pot of seafood, meat and vegetables slowly simmered in a steaming savory broth. Not that Otako has any need to advertise — it's one of Ginza's landmark restaurants.
Founded in 1923, it isn't the oldest oden shop in Tokyo — that honor is generally ascribed to the 101-year-old Otafuku across town in Asakusa — but it is certainly among the most popular. You can tell by the clientele it attracts.