also: しょばだい
stall fee; space fee
Slang term for money paid to secure a spot, especially for street stalls, vendors, or illegal operations. Often associated with yakuza or underground economy contexts.
Street vendors have to pay a stall fee to the association.
The yakuza came to collect the space fee.
Most common spelling; katakana for ショバ and kanji for 代.
Ateji spelling using kanji for the sounds; rarely used.
Mixed hiragana-kanji spelling; less common than ショバ代.
ショバ is slang for 'place' or 'spot', possibly from 所 (sho) + 場 (ba). 代 (dai) means 'fee'. The exact origin of ショバ is uncertain, but it is widely used in underworld and street-vendor contexts.