>>Where were you born?
Nara Prefecture.
>>What do you do for a living?
I’ve been Store Manager of MUJI at Aeon Kurashiki store since February, 2006.
>>Where do you live?
At Urata, Fukuda-Cho where there are many rice paddies. There are also many bugs there.
>>What is your impression of Kurashiki?
It’s comfortable. The rent is reasonable and there are many supermarkets, clothes shops, bakeries and so on, making it fun to explore the neighborhood. I used to live in Fukui before I came here, but there was really nothing there. It’s also nice to be able to eat fresh and delicious seafood.
>>How do you spend your day off?
I go out with my wife when we have our day off together, but that’s really rare, so I guess I spend most of the time cleaning our house. I would wake up and do the laundry and dishes. My wife and I both hate doing the laundry and often wind up doing a week’s load of laundry at one time. When I’m alone on my day off, I go see the movies or rent a DVD. I also cook. I cook quite fancy dishes. I take a cell phone picture of the food I cooked and attach it to a message to my wife saying, “Come home early to this, honey!”
>>How would you characterize the people of Kurashiki?
Many are carefree. When we apologize for a late delivery and tell our customers that, “we are sorry, but your package will reach you sometime after tomorrow,” the response will normally be, “That’s OK, as long as it gets delivered sometime.” The staff is basically easygoing, too, and that got on my nerves at first. Perhaps it was because I was raised by a short tempered mother who’s from Osaka. Today, I’ve come to accept it as the nature of the locale and a good thing.
>>What are the customers like?
They seem to move at once at the same hour. Their day starts early and many show up at 10:00 a.m. The store suddenly becomes empty around noon and, before you know it, it’s packed with customers again. People here share consumption patterns. There seem to be a unique rhythm within the people of Kurashiki. I sense that they hate having that rhythm interrupted. I respect their LOHAS style.