I began hunting for kissatens in Kurashiki-city in April. The number of shops I visited totaled about forty. Most were run in a quiet manner, as if they were holding their breaths. The nine I introduced in the first half of this issue's feature story were no exception. There was a thick atmosphere of being back in time. These shops were unquestionably in trend during the 1960's and 1970's, when kissatens swarmed Japan. Such memories can be traced to their exteriors and interiors, in which fashion and design of those periods are evident.
There are quite a few shops in Tokyo that wear their obvious '70's or '80's influence as "character." They are often referred to as a "retro kissaten." It is one way for kissatens to survive in the present times. (While overdoing it has the opposite effect.) On the other hand, kissatens in Kurashiki absolutely do not share such a notion. If there is a touch of the '70's detected in their interior, it is simply the result of its owner adoring the style and preserving it with care all these years. Either that, or the owner couldn't afford to remodel...
The decorations in the shops reflect the attitude of its owners. Leafy foliage plants were on top of the list, and there were more than several places close to becoming a jungle. Whether it is the tastes of the wives of the owners, or presents from regular customers, fancy decorations such as dried flowers, patchwork, dolls, and stuffed animals are seen casually displayed on their walls. Should any touch of the '70's stoically remain in the interior of the shop, it is clearly disturbed by such decorations. However, such casual fanciness and the unbalance it causes is actually what makes a kissaten in a provincial city tasteful. It is what makes them dear to me.
Half of the forty kissatens I visited for this issue are likely to disappear in a decade. Perhaps the other half would be gone in a decade after that. What would the streetscape of Kurashiki be like then?