深夜食堂 · MBS and TBS from 2009 · Netflix 2016 and 2019 · open midnight to seven
0 of 5 panels lifted. Lift one to look under the noren.
0:00to7:00
Four plaques, the whole menu. Tap one, or the blank one for anything else.
The menu has four lines · everything else is a request
That is the Master’s rule. The menu on the wall is a pork miso soup set, beer, sake and shochu; ask for anything else and he will make it if he can. Each of the ten episodes of 2009 is named after what somebody asked for. Take the orders, pick the makings off the shelf, and hang a plaque for each one you serve.
Night 1 · 2009
赤いウインナー
“Red sausages and a rolled omelette, please.”
0 of 10 nights served. Night 1 asks for red sausages and a rolled omelette.
The shelf and the recipes are ours: the series names the dish, not the makings. The photographs show each dish as it is made anywhere, not as the series made it.
The Television’s episode guide to the 2009 series: the ten episode titles, each a dish, and their stories.
Netflix: the menu is a pork miso soup set, beer, sake and shochu, but the Master makes whatever customers request.
FCCJ: he will make any dish as long as he has the ingredients.
Eiga.com: the only fixed meal is the pork miso soup set; the 2015 film’s three stories turn on Napolitan spaghetti, grated-yam rice and curry rice.
Eiga.com: Kaoru Kobayashi on five years as the Master (Gen Suzuki, 28 January 2015)
Shinjuku, after midnight
The diner is in Shinjuku, somewhere in a back lane. Go and look for it.
Our drawing. Pins sit at the mapped positions; the tracks and streets are drawn by hand.
Looked in 0 of 5 places. Tap one on the map.
Where the street came from
Harada built Meshiya’s street from the drinking lanes of Shinjuku and Shibuya he remembered from his own younger nights. These are the real ones. The counters are as small as the Master’s.
1 Kabukichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo · photograph 2009
Around 280 bars fit into six tight rows of alleys, which have kept their early-1950s look while the rest of Shinjuku was rebuilt. For the diner’s T-junction, art director Mitsuo Harada and director Jōji Matsuoka walked the Golden Gai area together; a police box on the set came out of that walk. When Crank In! visited the set in 2016, its headline said Golden Gai had been rebuilt inside a 300-tsubo warehouse. It is five minutes on foot from the east exit of Shinjuku Station, next to Kabukichō.
Before you push the door: the house rules.
Public lanes, free to walk. Most bars open around 8pm; some are members-only. No photographs without permission, and no drinking or smoking in the street.
Shinjuku
Live results for guided evenings in Golden Gai, Omoide Yokocho and Kabukichō. None is run by the series; check each itinerary.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursHanazono Shrine · 120 metres from Golden Gai
An empty shrine precinct beside Golden Gai.
In the summer of 1967 Kara Jūrō’s company, the Situation Theatre (Jōkyō Gekijō), put up its first red tent in the grounds of Hanazono Shrine. Kaoru Kobayashi, the Master, came out of that company; so did Mansaku Fuwa. Fuwa plays Tadashi, one of the diner’s regulars, in the 2026 series.
As a young member of the company, Kobayashi has said on television, he once lost a part after drinking and falling asleep in a field. A fellow actor added that for about three years he had no home and slept in the tatami room at the back of an izakaya. Now he stands behind a counter, and Fuwa sits at it.
Daily Sports, 1 December 2019: Kobayashi was in Kara Jūrō’s Situation Theatre and lost a part after drinking; Ken Mitsuishi said he had no home for about three years and slept in the back room of an izakaya.
Daily Sports: Kaoru Kobayashi’s wild young days (1 December 2019)
Sakigake/ORICON: Mansaku Fuwa plays Tadashi in the 2026 series.
Sakigake (ORICON): the new Midnight Diner series, 21 cast and its start date (23 September 2026)
5-17 Shinjuku, beside Golden Gai, Tokyo
In the summer of 1967 Kara Jūrō’s company, the Situation Theatre (Jōkyō Gekijō), put up its first red tent in the grounds of Hanazono Shrine. The shrine is about ten minutes from Shinjuku Station.
A working shrine on the edge of Golden Gai, about ten minutes on foot from Shinjuku Station.
The 2026 series · 21 regulars announced
Tap a stool to see who sits there.
Kogure
The policeman among the regulars, back for the 2026 series. This photograph is from October 2015, the year of the first film.
The Master
He calls the Master a lead who takes rather than leads, watching each story as if from a seat in the audience. He has a scar on his face and nobody knows his past; the manga’s author says he only started wondering about it when the series’ director asked, and in more than fifteen years has found no answer. We have found no free photograph of Kobayashi from any year.
The manga, from 2006
Born in Kōchi in 1963, he worked in advertising until he was 41. Midnight Diner has run in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Original since 2006 and won the Shogakukan Manga Award.
Sakigake/ORICON, 23 September 2026: the 21 regulars of the new series and their actors.
Sakigake (ORICON): the new Midnight Diner series, 21 cast and its start date (23 September 2026)
Eiga.com, January 2015: Kobayashi on playing the Master, and the scar.
Eiga.com: Kaoru Kobayashi on five years as the Master (Gen Suzuki, 28 January 2015)
CNA, April 2021: Abe left advertising at 41; asked about the scar by the series’ director, he still has no answer.
Central News Agency (Taiwan): the mystery of the Master, unsolved after 15 years (9 April 2021)
Sarai, July 2024: Abe, born in Kōchi in 1963; Big Comic Original since 2006; Shogakukan Manga Award.
Sarai.jp: Eiko Yamaguchi on the manga Midnight Diner (9 July 2024)
4-2-8 Shibakōen, Minato, Tokyo
Before Meshiya, director Jōji Matsuoka had worked with Kaoru Kobayashi on Tokyo Tower. The tower was built in 1958 and is 333 metres tall.
Open daily 9am to 11pm, last entry 30 minutes before closing; general admission ¥1,500.
Shibakōen, Minato · Daily 9am–11pm, last entry 10.30pm · general admission ¥1,500
The tower of Jōji Matsuoka and Kaoru Kobayashi’s film before Meshiya.
Visiting detailsShibuya PARCO · until 8 November 2026
15-1 Udagawachō, Shibuya, Tokyo
Until 8 November 2026, Hobonichi’s space on the eighth floor of Shibuya PARCO shows the work of food stylist Nami Iijima, from Kamome Diner (2006) to the new Midnight Diner. It has real pieces of the set: the diner’s noren and its lantern. A U-shaped counter like the diner’s is rebuilt there; it is not the set, but you can sit at it and order ochazuke, red octopus sausages and a small beer. Iijima cooks the food for the 2026 series; she also did the food for the 2019 Netflix season.
Hobonichi’s exhibition is on until 8 November 2026, 11am to 8pm, free.
1:26a.m.
The new series starts on Tuesday 20 October 2026, late at night, seven years after the last one; on TBS in the Kantō region it goes out at 1.26am, after midnight, like the diner.
Seven o’clock
8 places you can visit in three areas. The Meshiya set stands in a private warehouse in Iruma: it is named here and not pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Public lanes, free to walk. Most bars open around 8pm; some are members-only. No photographs without permission, and no drinking or smoking in the street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working shrine on the edge of Golden Gai, about ten minutes on foot from Shinjuku Station.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Streets free at any hour. Kabuki Yokocho, on the second floor of Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, is open around the clock.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open whenever the trains run. Golden Gai is about five minutes away on foot.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public alley, two minutes from Shinjuku Station’s west side. Cash only in most places.
1 Kabukichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Around 280 bars fit into six tight rows of alleys, which have kept their early-1950s look while the rest of Shinjuku was rebuilt.
Public lanes, free to walk. Most bars open around 8pm; some are members-only. No photographs without permission, and no drinking or smoking in the street.
5-17 Shinjuku, beside Golden Gai, Tokyo
In the summer of 1967 Kara Jūrō’s company, the Situation Theatre (Jōkyō Gekijō), put up its first red tent in the grounds of Hanazono Shrine.
A working shrine on the edge of Golden Gai, about ten minutes on foot from Shinjuku Station.
Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, 1-29-1 Kabukichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Kabukichō is Shinjuku’s neon district, a maze of hotels and places to stay out late.
Streets free at any hour. Kabuki Yokocho, on the second floor of Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, is open around the clock.
3 Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo
The east side of the station is the way in to Shinjuku’s shops, food and nightlife.
Open whenever the trains run. Golden Gai is about five minutes away on foot.
1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo
An alley of yakitori counters by the tracks, where each place seats five or six.
A public alley, two minutes from Shinjuku Station’s west side. Cash only in most places.
Stay
A short walk from Golden Gai, with check-in until 2am.
Kabukichō 1-19-1, Shinjuku · Check-in 2pm–2am, check-out 11am · rates on the hotel’s site
In Kabukichō, a short walk from Golden Gai. Check-in runs until 2am, which suits a diner that opens at midnight.
Check roomsGo there
Night walks in Shinjuku, food walks through the small-counter lanes, and Tokyo Tower.
Shinjuku
Live results for guided evenings in Golden Gai, Omoide Yokocho and Kabukichō. None is run by the series; check each itinerary.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursShinjuku and Shibuya
Live results for food walks through Tokyo’s small-counter lanes, where the seats are as few as at Meshiya.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursShibakōen, Minato · Daily 9am–11pm, last entry 10.30pm · general admission ¥1,500
The tower of Jōji Matsuoka and Kaoru Kobayashi’s film before Meshiya.
Visiting detailsWhat’s on
Three dated things this autumn.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
Yarō Abe’s Midnight Diner, where the Master began.
Yarō Abe
The manga the series comes from, in Japanese, from Shogakukan (2009).
Find the bookDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
9 of 9 places · 8 of 8 Moments
1 Kabukichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Harada and Matsuoka walk the Golden Gai area together to plan the diner’s crossroads; a police box comes out of the conversation.
5-17 Shinjuku, beside Golden Gai, Tokyo
Kara Jūrō’s Situation Theatre puts up its first red tent at Hanazono Shrine; Kobayashi and Fuwa later come out of the company.
Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, 1-29-1 Kabukichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo
3 Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo
The diner is in Shinjuku and opens at midnight; the menu is a pork miso soup set, beer, sake and shochu, and the Master makes anything else he can.
1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Harada builds the diner’s street from the drinking lanes of Shinjuku and Shibuya he remembers.
1-25 Shibuya, Shibuya, Tokyo
The other half of Harada’s memory: Shibuya’s drinking lanes.
15-1 Udagawachō, Shibuya, Tokyo
The set’s noren and lantern hang in Shibuya, over a counter where you can order ochazuke and red octopus sausages.
4-2-8 Shibakōen, Minato, Tokyo
Matsuoka and Kobayashi work together on Tokyo Tower before the diner.
A warehouse in Iruma, Saitama
The diner’s street is built inside a 300-tsubo warehouse in Iruma.
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