Tachinomi – standing bars – are popular pit stops in Japanese cities. The typically small bars are usually hidden down clustered back alleys and are often single-owner-operated. They’re not common in Australia (though Sydney has one: Tachinomi YP).

The operators, spouses Fumi and Takako Tamura, are hoping to kick off a standing bar craze in Melbourne. They’ve opened Get Up Stand Up Bar, at the back of their Smith Street spot, Izakaya by Tamura.

Fumi says the name can mean whatever you want it to. He’s a fan of the Bob Marley song Get Up Stand Up, but says that for him the phrase is more suggestive of kindness, like when you stand up to give your seat to someone on the tram.

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He says when people who are able are standing, they are more inclined to socialise with other customers than when they are seated at a bar (seats are available for people who need them). He also sees Get Up Stand Up as a way to get closer to his customers. “It is a very precious time for me behind the bar being able to talk to customers and regulars,” he tells Broadsheet.

You can order from the Izakaya by Tamura menu, but there’s also a specific standing bar menu designed by Takako with more typical tachinomiya foods like oden, a Japanese hotpot dish with ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon radish, fish cakes, and tofu stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth. There are also daily croquettes, stewed Wagyu tendon, Hokkaido scallop nigiri, seared spicy cod roe and dried and smoked calamari.

The drinks list is concise. There’s sake, Iichiko Shochu, a rosé by the glass, a Japanese-style rice lager from Stomping Ground, and a Hojicha whisky highball.

“Our theme is to bring out the qualities of warm sake during the cold months and match them with Japanese classic snacks and more fun things that you aren’t really offered at other Japanese restaurants,” says Fumi. “[We want to] be more authentic so we can create the vibe for our customers and they feel like they’re transported to one of the bars in Japan.”

You can stay a while or drop in for a quick drink. “It depends how long you want to stand,” says Fumi. “But I am standing all night.”

Fumi and Takako, who are also behind Tamura Sake Bar, hope to spread tachinomi culture throughout Melbourne. While the bar is currently part of their existing izakaya venue, and only runs occasionally, they’re aiming to make it a pop-up and host the concept in different venues and cities.

It will be open from 6pm to late this Saturday August 10, before the Tamuras take the concept to a night club in Tokyo called 88 Block later in the month “to see the younger generation’s reaction to what we do outside of Japan”, and will pop up in Noosa in October.

After that, they’re open to taking the concept anywhere and hope to find people “looking for something different, and an experience they would never have thought they could have in this country”.

Get Up Stand Up Bar
343 Smith Street, Fitzroy
0417 921 527

Get Up Stand Up will operate this Saturday August 10 from 6pm–late

@getupstandupbar