Taco rice

Matsuzo Gibo ran Parlor Senri in the Shinkaichi bar district of Kin. When the yen floated and Marines had less to spend, he started putting the tacos that sold well at his bar on top of rice as a cheap, filling meal, and one account says it began as the staff dinner. The first version was rice and taco meat alone. Cheese and vegetables came later, and at the original counter they cost extra. The Senri name came from a second-hand shop sign.

The dish spread around the main island through King Tacos, and Parlor Senri itself closed on 29 June 2015. Okinawan schools have served taco rice at lunch since the 1990s, and mainland chains from KFC to Yoshinoya have sold their own versions. Okinawan shops often write it ターコライス with a long vowel. Charlie's Tacos in Koza belongs to the same postwar story, and Okinawa City calls it the island's first taco specialist.

Shops still play with the formula. Stone-grilled taco rice, taco soba and the egg-topped taco moco all turn up on Okinawan menus, and bento shops often swap the salsa for ketchup. Japanese Wikipedia adds that Okinawan makers leave chili con carne out of it.