Still on the floor.

Ninja Yakiniku is a halal wagyu restaurant in Asakusa. The beef is halal; there is a quiet room to pray. But the first thing you notice is the owner — not in an office, on the floor, greeting every table himself.

People ask why he still does it. Because here, he told me, he gets to talk with people from every country — completely different cultures, different languages. Someone says they came from Los Angeles and the table turns to baseball; someone else, from somewhere else entirely.

He doesn't make a show of any of it. Just gratitude — thank you, itadakimasu — and a counter where the whole world sits down to the same wagyu.