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ingredients. Okonomiyaki was a meagre fare that did not agree with the taste
of the American soldiers who occasionally accompanied their Japanese
female escorts to the restaurant. Fujioka came up with the idea of frying
beef on the griddle instead of pancakes, which proved an immense success
among American customers. The lore goes that Fujioka first fried thin slices
of beef, similar to those used in the sukiyaki beef stew, and switched to
steak-like chunks upon customers’ requests. 17
At first, Misono’s clientele was overwhelmingly American. However,
when economic growth took off under the stimulation of the Korean War
(1950–53), the number of Japanese customers increased. In 1960 Fujioka
opened a new location in the centre of Tokyo, which became big hype with
the Japanese celebrities. Three years later, Peter Robinson, a Tokyo correspondent
for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Financial Times, observed
in Fodor’s Guide to Japan and East Asia that a new genre of steakhouses had
sprung out in the capital of Japan. ‘The steak is grilled on a large steel
An old-fashioned
okonomiyaki
establishment in
Hiroshima, 2001.
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