The late night pubs do exist, sure, but a lot of them stay open to capture any foot traffic from people missing their last train around midnight. Most don't serve full menus at that hour and it's usually a skeleton staff (short of, say, a HUB or something... but those aren't going to be open past 2, short of Roppongi & co generally).
Japan (really Tokyo, I guess) stopped being truly 24-hours post 2011 earthquake. After the power issues around the country, I noticed a lot of places never returned to their same livelihood. It's a shame, was fun while it lasted.
I'm mostly commenting at this point because the misconception of Japan being this constantly-on always-good-food crazy ass heaven is really tiring to see these days.
Really? This surprises me, given that the population of Tokyo has only continued to rise since then, and Tokyo wasn't nearly as badly affected as many other parts of Japan. How long did the power issues last following the earthquake, and why would they still continue to have effects so many years later?
Things are a little better in purchasing power per capita terms [2], but not by enough to make a difference.
[1] https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&...
[2] https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&...
Yet in 2012 it was $800B more than in 1995?
From your graph it has been mostly been stable.
I wonder if any developed countries middle class is faring well currently?
From what I saw, the whole place looked middle-class, and like everyone was doing fine. I think I might have seen one homeless person the whole time I was there (and I'm not sure about that; they were just begging, and didn't have a bunch of stuff with them); I saw more poverty in Germany, and I see far more in the US.
Japan's middle class might not have as much disposable income as it did in the 1980s, but from what I saw, it wasn't doing badly at all. It certainly looks a lot healthier than the US's middle class.
If that's not what you meant, I would recommend wording it differently in the future.
Regularly see elders in my local Yoshinoya. The Beef-Salmon set is good.
The OP isn’t being literal, but the point is correct: Yoshinoya seems great if you’re a tourist and you’ve had it once or twice in your life. But if you live there you begin to associate it with missed trains and late-night binge drinking. I had to be pretty wasted to eat gyuudon - even an old onigiri from a sketchy conbini was preferable.
Are there people who eat there regularly? Sure. There are people who eat Burger King every day, too.
The OP’s broader point about Tokyo not being a magical 24/7 wonderland is extremely well-taken. Tourists spend some time in Shibuya or Shinjuku and extrapolate incorrectly. Hell...even Shinjuku can be a hard place to get a good bite at 3am on a weekday night. Most places there close shortly after the last train (~midnight).
Peek in a McDonalds and you'll see old people too. Doesn't make it good for you.