A Japanese izakaya bar has come under fire for offering patrons the rather controversial service of being slapped on their faces before having their meals served.

The Shachihoko-ya izakaya in Nagoya served its snacks with a hearty side of slaps delivered by its female staff. The bizarre service is said to have revitalized the establishment’s business, attracting an increasing number of patrons willing to try the painful experience. In the beginning, the face slapping was done by just one member of the izakaya staff, upon request, but as demand grew, management hired several girls willing to dish out some slaps and even started charging a fee of 100 yen (90 cents) per slap.

Photo: Andrew Le/Unsplash

Chinese-language media publication Liberty Times Net recently published a report on the izakaya’s weird face-slapping service, claiming that at one point it charged people up to 500 yen for choosing which one of its staff members to get slapped by. The service was popular with both Japanese men and women, as well as curious foreign tourists.

“The harder the female staff slapped them, the more excited the patrons became,” the Liberty Times Net report claimed. “Not only were the patrons not angry, but they appeared to feel more relaxed after getting hit. They would even thank the staff member who smacked them.”

And, as you can see in the embedded video, these slaps are no joke. Some of the girls really put their heart into it, so to speak, and patrons loved it. However, at some point, Shachihoko-ya decided to discontinue its main draw and focus on the standard izakaya services. Last month, it issued an announcement on X, urging people not to come by expecting to get slapped.

“Shachihoko-ya currently does not offer slaps. We appreciate the attention it has received today, but we cannot accommodate visits with the intention of receiving slaps,” the message read. “We did not expect old videos to go viral like this, so please understand before coming.”

It’s unclear when the izakaya bar discontinued the controversial service, but it obviously still attracts a lot of attention.