Like so many restaurants in the world’s most Michelin-starred city, Ginza Isomura is struggling to weather the latest crisis rocking the pandemic-battered hospitality industry.

A staple in one of Tokyo’s most expensive shopping and dining districts for decades, the restaurant has been serving carefully prepared deep-fried skewers of meat, seafood and seasonal vegetables to customers from around the world. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, international travelers could be seen rubbing elbows with Japanese office workers at the folk-themed establishment’s polished wooden counter, listening to chefs in white uniforms explain each skewered entree.

In what has become an all-too-common story since the onset of the health scare, however, sales have plummeted due to social distancing measures, travel restrictions and stay-at-home requests.