"Midnight Diner," set in Tokyo

[abcdefg]

Recently watched several episodes of "Midnight Diner" which is a Japanese TV series set in back-street Tokyo. It has been showing on Netflix with subtitles in English. Skillfully drawn vignettes about life in modern urban Japan. (An enjoyable series, by the way.)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Diner_(Japanese_TV_series)

 

Synopsis:

Spoiler

Midnight Diner (深夜食堂, Shinya shokudō) is a Japanese anthology TV series directed by Joji Matsuoka, based on a manga with the same name by Yarō Abe. It focuses on a late-night diner called Meshiya in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, its mysterious scarred chef known only as "Master", and the lives of his customers.

 

My question is about how the customers address the owner/chef. They call him "Masta" with a soft "s" such that it comes out sounding like "Mash-ta." I don't know any Japanese, so please excuse the ignorant question.

 

I was wondering if that was commonly used in Japan the way one might address the cook in a Chinese diner as "shifu" 师傅 or laoban 老板。Or is it a respectful form they just used in addressing this particular character because of some past events that aren't shown on screen in the series. (There are subtle hints that he might have once been involved in organized crime.) 

 

Here is a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dmZhlHupOI

[NinjaTurtle]

In Japan it is common to call the male owner of a restaurant "Master" and to call the female owner "Mama-san" (which sounds very much like something that was picked up from US soldiers during the occupation). I don't know about the a soft "s" pronunciation but it sounds like it might be Tokyo dialect, not standard Japanese. (Yes, Tokyo dialect is different from standard Japanese in a number of ways.) The use of "Master" and "Mama-san" are not linked to organized crime, and I use these terms all the time when I am in a small "mom and pop" restaurant in Japan.

 

Hey abc, are you still spending time in Northeastern Texas?

[abcdefg]

Thanks, @NinjaTurtle. Yes, I'm still "stranded in Texas." 

[amytheorangutan]

I love this series so much. I even read the comics in Chinese 深夜食堂。? Everytime I watch them I always get so hungry ?

[abcdefg]

On 10/14/2021 at 12:50 PM, amytheorangutan said:

Everytime I watch them I always get so hungry

 

Me too! That is one of the dangers of watching. Makes me reach for the snacks. 

[Publius]

I love this series too. It's one of the few Japanese series I keep on a removable disk for rewatching (the others being Unnatural, Doctor-X, Nihonjin no Shiranai Nohongo, Alice in Borderland, 17.3 about a sex). The problem with Japanese dramas is overacting. Those few are more or less tolerable to me.