The time-honored tradition of ringing the year out with a restaurant party is making a comeback in Japan, according to a major online booking site that says reservations are at nearly 70 percent of the level seen just before the pandemic.

But there's a difference this year. Instead of the big group get-togethers in izakaya, people are opting for smaller gatherings.

The site operator says groups of four or fewer account for 58 percent of the reservations. That's almost double the rate of three years ago.

And the operator says smaller groups often want private rooms which means more work for the servers, and restaurants are having a hard time securing the staff.