A sake and jazz bar as small as it is charming has opened on the other side of the ankle-rolling cobblestone laneway from Marion in Fitzroy.

Reaffirming the Japanese tradition of putting your name on something you care about, Yokohama native and Fitzroy local Fumi Tamura and his wife Takako have opened Tamura Sake Bar in a former cafe.

Fumi – a sake sommelier who created the cocktails for Iron Chef Australia – gets to play both bartender and DJ from his post behind the U-shaped timber bar, surrounded by 16 seats. There are another 14 spots split beneath original stained-glass windows and small tables protruding from the walls, painted black and lined with vinyl imported from Tokyo. It's available to purchase, or you can pass your favourite record to Fumi to spin.

Takako commands the kitchen. For lunch, she's serving chicken-broth ramen spiked with fish sauce (vegetarian available), as well as meal sets, purple sushi rolls and a katsu sando that would be on-trend if Japan hadn't already been doing them for decades.

Dinner and the liquor licence kick in this week, which will add yakitori, sashimi and small tapas to the menu. A $45 omakase menu (chef's choice) with a $25 sake pairing is also available.

Two beers are on tap – Okinawa Sour and Rice XPA – both the result of Fumi's collaboration with Temple Brewing Co. in Brunswick East. Three to five sakes from microbreweries are available by the glass each night and rotate when the bottle runs out, "kind of like a wine bar", says Fumi, who has also imported Japanese glassware.

There are plans to open some Sundays for special events such as "ramen and reggae".

Open Mon-Sat noon-11pm.

Shop 1, 43 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 03 9417 1992