Actually the paper is fortunes. They can buy them and then if they want the fortune to come true they hang it there. I do this once a year at Mishima shrine.
I lived in Tokyo for 5 years and one of our favorite restaurants was like that. Nearly all the food except the rice, soba and ice cream were raw and you took your food from refrigerated cabinets and cooked it at your own table. If I knew you were going to a place like that I would have tipped you to take some A-1 Sauce with you :-)
It's nice to have been following you around the Far East Leo - sounds like you and Henry and having a great time and learning a lot!!! Keep on keepin' on and have a safe trip back!!!
kato66 is in fact wrong, since the japanese do indeed base at least some part of their astrology on the Chinese zodiac (as do I think many other asian countries) -- not surprising since much of the culture has Chinese culture/history is at Japanese foundation. (from a friend who lived in Japan and works at a Japanese bookstore).
It's nice to have been following you around the Far East Leo - sounds like you and Henry and having a great time and learning a lot!!! Keep on keepin' on and have a safe trip back!!!