This may be because young people in Japan are finding the down-to-earth sunakku scene as more authentic than the overly polished bars and clubs targeted towards young people. Although heavily associated with the over-40 crowd, sunakku have seen a revival in recent years. The exact definition of a “sunakku”, or snack bar, can be difficult to pin down, but it’s usually a bar run by an older woman called the “mama” who sees to the comfort of her patrons by pouring drinks, lighting cigarettes, making small talk, and singing along with them in karaoke.
