Yakitori was sold for the first time
in 1912 in a kebab shop in the Kanto area, the eastern area of
Japan. Though the name Yakitori means grilled chicken, the kebab
had various kinds of meat such as horse meat, beef guts and even
dog meat just to make it cheaper. Due to low cost Yakitori became
very popular among all Japanese people. After the war, the Yakitori
was a bigger hit due to the reduction of food. Still the Japanese
people did not use chicken, but instead they used pork and beef in
a sweet sauce made from a soya sauce substitute and saccharin. In
1965, the Yakitori stalls' menus were as good as the ones today due
to the introduction of American broilers. Cheap Yakitori went down
well with alcohol, so yakitori appeared on Izakaya (restaurant or
pub) menus. Now with Yakitori becoming more popular in today's
society they use can use a whole chicken to make several different
types of Yakitori.
