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Courtesy of a customer A scene from a video taken from directly above the table at Fu-Fu-Hanten, a Chinese restaurant in Sumida Ward, Tokyo. The video shows the customers enjoying a meal.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
17:00 JST, January 5, 2025
An increasing number of young people are enjoying shooting videos of themselves eating at restaurants, placing their smartphones on mesh racks directly above their tables for an overhead shot.
Some restaurants have even installed special overhead shooting stands. This method is popular not only because it allows people to take videos from a unique angle but also because overhead photos and videos do not show the faces of people in them, making them easy to post on social media.
One night in mid-November, female customers stood up from their seats one after another and put their smartphones on overhead mesh racks installed above their tables in Fu-Fu-Hanten, a Chinese restaurant in Sumida Ward, Tokyo. They pointed their camera lenses straight down through the gaps in the mesh to capture their beautifully-arranged ramen noodles and stir-fried rice and themselves as they ate.
A 19-year-old female university student from Tokyo was shooting a video at a counter table with her friend sitting next to her. She checked the video after finishing her meal. “This is so cool and cute! I can shoot a video of us saying ‘Let’s eat’ and sharing the food with each other, which leaves us with good memories,” she said.
A 17-year-old female high school student who sat at another table said: “It was difficult to focus the camera, but it was interesting. Since the content does not include my face, I can post it on social media easily.”
Originally, the mesh racks were installed to hold customers’ bags. According to the restaurant’s head chef Junnosuke Nishizuka, 36, videos of meals and other things taken from directly above have been posted on social media one after another since February. Sometimes, customers who want to shoot such videos or photos line up in front of the restaurant. Now, 30% – 40% of the restaurant’s customers take videos or photos, according to Nishizuka.
“I was surprised to find out that the racks could be used that way. I hope people enjoy the food and atmosphere of the restaurant with videos taken from this unique angle,” he said in a welcoming tone.
The 38kitchen Kotodai pancake restaurant in Aoba Ward, Sendai, installed overhead shooting racks in late May. A 45-centimeter by 45-centimeter shooting rack hangs by wires from the ceiling above each of the four tables in the restaurant. The shooting racks are wooden frames with gardening nets attached to them in which people can put their smartphones.
A 41-year-old housewife shot a video of herself and her friend having pancakes with seasonal fruits and other ingredients. She said, “I can film the food without holding my smartphone, which allows me to enjoy the meal in a relaxed way.”
The overhead shooting method has various advantages. With the method, people can shoot a video or a photo of their table without including other customers in it and easily get their whole table in the shot.
The Yomiuri Shimbun / Courtesy of a customer Left: A woman puts her smartphone on an overhead shooting rack at the 38kitchen Kotodai pancake restaurant in Sendai. Right: Pancakes and other dishes taken from an overhead angle at the 38kitchen Kotodai pancake restaurant in Sendai.
Yukari Hoshino, an executive officer of ReWiLL, the Sendai-based company that operates the restaurant, said: “Overhead shooting allows people to shoot videos or photos that capture the atmosphere, showing aspects such as the colors and placement of food across the entire table. It is also popular because they can record the order in which dishes arrive at their table.”
Customers post their videos or photos on social media, which attracts more customers. As a result, the restaurant’s sales in October were about 150% of what they had been in May, according to Hoshino.
