Many Japanese repatriates opened yatai, or small food stalls, while serving ramen and gyōza after returning from China.
After World War II, millions of Japanese colonists and civilians returned from areas including Manchuria in northeastern China. Some brought familiarity with Chinese cooking and adapted those foods to Japan’s postwar street-food economy. Yatai offered a relatively inexpensive way to sell hot meals, and ramen became a particularly important offering.
Gyōza was often served alongside ramen as a side dish, helping establish the pairing that remains common in Japan today. Yatai means a mobile or temporary food stall, not a lodging house or a bar: ryokan means traditional inn, kissaten means coffeehouse, and izakaya means a Japanese drinking establishment. Japanese gyōza developed its own character, often with thin wrappers and a pronounced garlic flavor.