Yassan is a meat kappo of long renown. The shop is busy night after night, filling up as soon as the shop curtain is posted outside. Staff use German as a sort of code, calling tongue ‘Zunge’, heart ‘Herz’, stomach ‘Magen’ and so on. The practice began at a time when many of its regulars were German physicians. ‘Yassan’ is an affectionate contraction of the restaurant’s original owner-chef’s name, ‘Yasuo-san’. Calabashes hang from the rafters around the counter, recalling that Yasuo-san liked sake in these gourds.