Torys Bar (Osaka, Japan)

You may notice the small sign in the middle of this picture reading "Juso Torys Suntory". This lane is located in the Juso red-light district in Osaka. Here is the sole survivor of a long bygone era, when Suntory whisky bars, named torys bars could be found all over Japan. Of the hundreds of Torys bars that dotted most of Japan in the 50s' and 60s', you'll find today only one remaining : the Torys bar of Juso, Osaka ...
Let's have a look at this recent Suntory history : As we know, Shinjiro Torii, Suntory's founder was at the same time a passionate whisky lover and a smart entrepreneur. After the war, as whisky was getting trendier in Japan, he wanted to speed the access of ordinary Japanese (especially of the hard-working salarymen) to his whiskies and decided to open countless bars, named "Torys bars" where (mostly) men could have an after-work relaxing time drinking whisky. The first of these bars were opened in 1955 in Osaka and Tokyo and were to become a staple of post-war Japan. How many wives have patiently waited for their husband to come home while he was sipping glass after glass in a crowded Torys bar with his work mates... To give you an idea of the success of these whisky bars in Japan, consider the figures : 1500 such Torys bars were established in the 50s' and early 60s'... Many Suntory commercials were shot to promote the trendy drink since that era, like this one. This other one seems to show the flushing effect of whisky, even the house glows at the end (and the gender roles...the wife serves and the husband gulps)...This one features Coppola and Kurosawa enjoying Suntory whisky during the shooting of Kagemusha, 2 generations of Copollas seem to have had a crush for Suntory whiskies...Listen to the amplified sound of the ice cubes knocking together in the commercial. Uncle Torys, the character created by Ryohei Yamagihara for the Suntory whiskies commercials in the 1950s' was an icon of postwar Japan. After years working with Suntory, Ryohei Yamagihara brought his talent to the Mitsui OSK Lines, a Japanese cruise-ships and freight-ships company. A Ryohei Yamagihara Museum is devoted to his artistic work there.























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