Yakitori in its current form developed in the Meiji period (1868–1912) when chicken eating became widespread following the lifting of Buddhist meat prohibitions; the first dedicated yakitori stalls appeared in the late Meiji period in Tokyo; the izakaya yakitori format (ordering per skewer alongside sake) solidified in the post-WWII Showa period; Kōenji, Shimokitazawa, and Yurakucho (the area under the railway arches) became famous yakitori districts
Yakitori (焼き鳥 — 'grilled bird') is Japan's most precisely specified skewered grilling cuisine, governed by specific charcoal type, distance management, skewering angles, and the relationship between tare and heat timing. Professional yakitori uses binchotan charcoal (備長炭 — white charcoal from Japanese ubame oak) which burns hotter (700–900°C), longer (3–5 hours), and with far less smoke than conventional charcoal or gas. The radiant heat from binchotan penetrates proteins differently — deeper and more even than gas, producing a char that develops differently. Skewering: each part of the chicken requires a specific skewering pattern that aligns muscle fibre direction with the heat; thigh (momo) is threaded folded to create uniform thickness; skin (kawa) is threaded in accordion pleats to produce even crisping across the entire skin surface; tsukune (meatball) is shaped and threaded directly. Tare application timing: for tare-grilled (tare-yaki), tare is applied in the last 3–4 minutes and the skewer is turned rapidly to caramelise without burning; too early application burns the sugar before the protein cooks through; final tare application is a dip rather than a brush — the accumulated caramelisation layer builds across multiple dips.
Binchotan's flavour impact is real and specific: the radiant infrared heat from white charcoal penetrates proteins more deeply than convective heat from gas, producing a specific char-and-juice combination; the 'yakitori smell' is Maillard reaction products from chicken fat and protein caramelisation combined with the faint smoke character of binchotan — impossible to replicate with gas or conventional charcoal
Binchotan charcoal is the professional standard — its temperature, smokelessness, and radiant heat profile are not replicated by gas or standard charcoal; height above coals determines temperature zone — 15cm for cooking, 8cm for finishing; tare applied in final 3–4 minutes prevents burnt sugar before protein cooks; skewering angle and direction is part of the design; the two base seasonings are salt (shio) and tare — shio for delicate parts (liver, kidney, skin in salt mode), tare for robust parts (thigh, wing).
The professional sequence: start all skewers over medium distance, rotate frequently; increase heat in final 3 minutes for skin and fatty cuts; apply tare 3–4 times in final 3 minutes, rotating between each application to build caramelisation; salt (shio) yakitori is considered a higher art form than tare because there is no seasoning to mask technique flaws; the reba (liver) is the benchmark of a yakitori restaurant — slightly pink in the centre, charred exterior; any off-flavour in the liver reflects poor sourcing.
Gas grill substitution for binchotan changes the flavour fundamentally — gas produces no radiant char character; applying tare too early (sugar burns before protein cooks through); uneven skewering creating thick and thin sections cooking at different rates; insufficient distance management — too close produces char without cooking through; removing from heat too soon before tare caramelises.
Ono, Tadashi — Japanese Soul Cooking; Hachisu, Nancy Singleton — Japanese Farm Food