31–40 of 136 posts
If only more had his insight.
It's always bittersweet when I visit Japan and come across old establishments or traditions that an ageing proprietor or volunteers are trying to keep going. You can see the love and spirit they have for it, but it often looks like something too disconnected from the interests of young people and the vicissitudes of the changing economy to survive for much longer. A kissaten (old-style cafe) owner in Nagasaki who sha…
Meh. Dagashi are... not great. (And frankly the same is true of jazz). You can get nicer stuff from any 7-eleven, consistently, and whether the staff member cares is (thankfully) not really relevant. Stores that sell something people actually want can and do thrive (by charging a premium if necessary), and that includes a lot of traditions that people value because they're traditional, but when it comes to something…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Meh. Dagashi are... not great. (And frankly the same is true of jazz). You can get nicer stuff from any 7-eleven, consistently, and whether the staff member cares is (thankfully) not really relevant. Stores that sell something people actually want can and do thrive (by charging a premium if necessary), and that includes a lot of traditions that people value because they're traditional, but when it comes to something…
Yeah, most of these things are extremely processed low quality stuff, very high in salt/sugar and additives. Even for the interesting snacks like dried calamari or candied kelp for instance, you'd have far better options buying from a normal supermarket.
The two coolest places I've found Dagashi in Japan have been the top floor of the Super Potato retro gaming store in Akihabara and the faux alleyways inside the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. The product itself isn't really exciting, but the ambiance is just incredible.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I like plenty of live music yeah (folk, idol pop, metal, ...). That kind of "jazz cafe" doesn't usually do live music though, so I'm a bit confused by the question.
I may have misunderstood this: > a jazz bar owner in Sasebo Where I’m from, that implies nightly live jazz performances from relatively to extremely talented musicians. I have never been to Japan, so I was unaware that I probably am missing context.
> When asked about the future of the business, Hideyuki says he has no intention of doing business (in pursuit of profits) at all. He believes businesses exist to serve society and contribute back to people in the community. That they make profits are merely a side effect and that somewhere along the line the side effect became the main goal. If only more had his insight.
It's always bittersweet when I visit Japan and come across old establishments or traditions that an ageing proprietor or volunteers are trying to keep going. You can see the love and spirit they have for it, but it often looks like something too disconnected from the interests of young people and the vicissitudes of the changing economy to survive for much longer. A kissaten (old-style cafe) owner in Nagasaki who sha…
Many of these small self-owned shop are the first floor of a house or building, and more often than not the owner lives upstairs, so it's less of an issue to keep it open with low frequentation as they're no paying extra rent or suffering hours of transit to get there.
That also tremendously helps with the community aspect and customers putting a face on the shop and staff as they'll meet them in their daily life as well.
It's incredible how much high quality restaurant food, groceries and snacks like these that Japan has had for a relatively low price as compared to other wealthy nations. It was quite noticeable for me the last 2 times I went to Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka, as a visitor from the US, that food costs were pretty much never an issue. I guess the dollar being strong has something to do with that.
I have thought about this almost every time I have visited other countries (usually in Asia). Many times there are a number of employees standing around “doing nothing”. In America that would be considered fat to be trimmed. But the number of times I have walked around a big box store in the US trying to find someone who works there makes me feel that the American model actually cheapens the experience and having red…
> When asked about the future of the business, Hideyuki says he has no intention of doing business (in pursuit of profits) at all. He believes businesses exist to serve society and contribute back to people in the community. That they make profits are merely a side effect and that somewhere along the line the side effect became the main goal. If only more had his insight.
[flagged]