Japanese pub grub in Fremont

Japan had it crazy good in the '80s -- its GDP growth was off the chain, Sony just bought CBS Records, and they didn't have to worry about Wesley Snipes foiling their acquisition of MicroCon since Rising Sun hadn't even come out yet. Giving you that same great '80s Japan while you take down small plates, Showa.

Named for boom-time '80s Japan (where its chef grew up), this dimly lit second story eat and drinkery's serving up the kind of mostly meat-based small plates (or izakaya) found in Japanese pubs plus sip-ables to go with them, all in a blond wood-heavy space that boasts a low-slung furniture'd lounge and an open kitchen fronted by a raw-wood topped bar, both of which are subtly arted with '80s-style touches like an Andre the Giant tee, and a poster for the Japanese Ghostbusters, who're exactly who you're gonna call, provided you know the right country code, and a one to five digit area code, plus a prefix for cellular num...screw it, you ain't afraid of no ghost. Super-affordable eats include the light Dashi broth Oden with a choice of items like grilled daikon, hard-boiled egg, or the fish/starch-based chikuwa; the marinated short-rib kalbi, and Butabara grilled pork belly, but not grilled Mork belly, as that just tastes like ShazBot. Tippling options range from inexpensive sakes (Ozeki One Cup, Hakutsuru Nama Draft), to Japanese brews (Sapporo, Asahi), to specialty 'tails like a fresh squeezed grapefruit Salty Dog and the Voyager Gin/ St. Germain/ orange bitters/ grapefruit twist Elder Fashion...so, bloomers?

Showa's also got happy hours featuring drink specials, plus $2 Edamame and Yakitori, that'll run from 5-7pm and 10pm to close, which will usually be around 1am when, technically, it's Morning in America.