I love Hirosaki (2): More interesting shops

The retail outlook in Hirosaki probably isn’t the brightest in Aomori prefecture. As Mr Kozai from Manchan told me, one of the biggest departmental stores in town, Nakasan, had just gone bankrupt. And as a result, those who have been accumulating vouchers from the store have essentially lost a substantial part of their savings.

And truth be told, when Joanne and I arrived in Hirosaki on Aug 1, the reception was rather cold. In the sense that as we dragged our luggage from the JR Hirosaki station to Super Hotel Hirosaki where we stayed, the streets were mostly empty, and not many shops seemed to be open. (The hotel was good btw)

But as it turns out, there are some interesting shops around, and we could have easily spent more time just browsing about town.

Display in men’s boutique The Screw, located just a stone’s throw away from our hotel.

First up, the stylish boutique The Screw, which was just a few minutes away from where we stayed.

Opened 16 years ago by Mr Mizoe Go (溝江 剛) – who looks much younger than his 42 years of age – it sells a range of Japanese-brand clothes and accessories. Some of the brands they carry include Factotum (from Shibuya, Tokyo) and master-piece (from Osaka). Besides the fact that the items are all very fashionable, they are also very expensive. (I walked about 36,000 yen poorer)

Mr Go said most of his customers are locals, which means Hirosaki residents love their fashion too. They must make good money with the delicious apples they produce there!

From the back of the shop

Not for sale

Fancy a camping trip in fashionable togs?

Delicious looking leather wallets

The man with the long hair is Mr Go.

If you’re looking for something a little more off-beat, check out honeycomb (ハニコム). With some luck, it just may be open for business.

Why do I say that? The owner, Ms Rika Fujita (藤田 理香), 29, told us that she actually shuttles between her hometown of Hirosaki and Tokyo, where she works as a freelance sewing teacher. So the shop opens only when she’s back home. You could say we were lucky.

The shop sells a variety of hand-made accessories, paper products and clothes. Ms Fujita also carries items made by her friends and even family. She’d actually started selling a new series of cushions – a collaboration with her mother called “marume（まるめ）× mam”. Joanne was tempted to pick one up but couldn’t quite justify the 4,200 price tag…

But what really stood out (or may freak out some) were the stuffed toy items. Essentially, Ms Fujita cut up her old stuffed toys and sewed them together to form new art pieces. When I asked her why she did that, she said something along the lines of: “The world is changing, the climate is changing, and animals are also changing as a result. I feel very sad about this, and that gave me inspiration to do this.”

An all-glass exterior

A very spacious shop. Ms Fujita said the space belongs to her father, and since it wasn’t in use, she was allowed to set up her shop there without paying rent.

A table set up to showcase products under the brand whice, created by her friend mina wagatsuma.

A funny floor mat, created by Ms Fujita.

A dolphin-horse

Panda ｘ Carebear

Something you can hang on the wall

Ms Fujita with her greatest work, a chair covered with sewed-on soft toy animal parts. She says the chair is something she will never sell.

I’ll end off this post with an cafe/bar called Crosspoint. I didn’t talk to the owners about the place as there were other customers around, but it has a nice, laid-back atmosphere. And they have free wifi too! Which is a rarity in Japan, given that everyone has Internet access on their phones there.

Looks like a nice place to chill out

25 cents!

iMac 0, Newspaper 1

There’s something I like about bar counter seats… as long as I don’t have to sit there (I carry too many things)

They serve only 10 sets of lunch every day. I’m not sure why! It was sold out the first afternoon we passed by. The lunch set on this day came with stir-fried vegetables.

Next up, the last post in the series… “on the streets of Hirosaki”.