Even if it's your first time, you'll have a great time! At Yamamoto Shoten, a cozy local spot, conversations bloom with friendly regulars. Located at 2-10 Omachi, Hakodate, Hokkaido, this sake shop has been around since 1948, with a building that looks quite old! According to regulars, the building existed even before the shop opened, making it nearly 100 years old! The interior has thick, sturdy beams that give it a robust feel. You can buy sake and snacks in the store and enjoy them in the adjacent corner bar area. They serve Sapporo Soft Shochu and canned sardines. The long table in the middle is surrounded by chairs made from cardboard on top of sake cases, giving it a charming and exciting vibe. You can help yourself to cups and ice water, and there's even a microwave for heating up snacks. I started my solo daytime drinking session while watching TV, and soon enough, familiar faces started to join in. Sitting around the table, sharing drinks, naturally led to enjoyable conversations with strangers. As the conversation heated up, one of the regulars had to leave for work, but not before treating me to a Sapporo Soft. Thank you! After chatting for a while, feeling a bit tipsy, I decided it was time to head home. "I'll be back," I said to another regular before leaving. "Come on August 1st for a barbecue while watching the Hakodate fireworks outside the store!" Sure thing, if I can make it, I'll be there. As I left the shop, I thought, "I may not know if I can come back when I return to Tokyo, but I definitely want to come back here again." It was a nice and calming place to be.

Now, in order to capture the bright view from Mt. Hakodate in a photo, I took the ropeway from the Jujigai tram stop. The journey to the ropeway station was a tough uphill climb! When I asked the front desk lady, she said, "It's clear tonight, so it might be crowded." However, during the day, there were no passengers, and I had the 120-person ropeway all to myself to the mountaintop station. After taking photos during the day while deciding on the nighttime shooting location on the snow-covered observation deck, I descended. I passed through the sunset street, went down Kisa Street, and beyond the brick wall of the Hakodate Chinese Club on Higashizaka was the quietly standing Yamamoto Sake Store. On the left was the entrance to the sales area, and on the right was the standing bar entrance. As I was taking photos of the exterior, a woman who seemed to be the landlady sprinkled water from a bucket and went inside. "Hello~" I called out, but there was no response, so I called out a third time. Finally, a kind landlady appeared from the back, saying, "I'm sorry about that." "Can I have a drink?" I asked. "Of course, please do. We don't have any appetizers here," she replied. I paid for a cup of Hokkaido Honnama One Cup, roasted seaweed, and fish sausage at the register and went to the standing bar counter. "It's getting cold today," she said as she lit the stove and offered me a seat on a beer case. When I mentioned this place to the landlady of Furunishi Shoten, she said, "Oh, really? I'll have to thank them next time I see them." She told me that there used to be around 30 liquor stores lined up on the hill, and now there are only about four standing bars. Her husband passed away 21 years ago, and she said, "I'm thinking about when to close, but my regular customers..." Her three children used to live outside the city for a while, but now they live in the city. "My grandchildren are so cute. They are my reason for living," she smiled. An hour passed with the talkative landlady and a cup of One Cup sake with roasted seaweed as a snack (surprisingly). "Unlike us, there are trendy liquor stores in front of the station, so you should go check them out," she recommended Maruzen Ryusawa Shoten. At 4 p.m., I headed to the Bay Area. I crossed the "Shichizaibashi" bridge, a filming location for the movie "Izakaya Choji"... I was moved by the love like a buried fire of adults and the melancholy acting of Reiko Ohara. (Shot with α7R & Carl Zeiss)