Mita-dori in the 1970s: Nostalgic Coffee Shops

2019/10/25

Image: Mita-dori 2-chome Intersection. From right: Asahiya, Yoshinoya (Kyoya on 2nd floor), Izumiya, Hanagin, Loverin (Sentakusen on 2nd floor)

These photographs capture the shopping district facing Mita-dori in the 1970s. Those who commuted to Mita likely feel a sense of nostalgia for places like Hirayama Bookstore at the Mita 2-chome intersection (with Ramen Jiro next door), the coffee shop Loduck, Tsurunoya, Loverin, and Sentakusen.

During my student days, I belonged to a traditional Japanese music group called Take-no-kai. We used to practice at the Kasuga Shrine building located just to the left after exiting the East Gate (Maboroshi no Mon), so I frequently visited the coffee shop "Bunsendo" (which has since moved to the opposite side of the road and now only sells Japanese sweets) located directly across from it. Today's students have the convenience of mobile phones, so they probably don't need a specific place to meet up, but in our era, such places were essential. Regardless of whether it was a practice day, if you went to that shop, you would always find fellow club members. Even if no one was there initially, friends would gather while you were eating or drinking. That was the nature of the times. There were many occasions when I came to the university determined to practice, only to run into three club members at that shop, making us a group of four, which inevitably led to us heading to a mahjong parlor. These are nostalgic memories of my youth.

After graduation, I was hired directly as a staff member at Keio University. I later heard from the Keio Human Resources Department that, at the time, male graduates didn't really consider Keio as a place of employment, except perhaps for the library. To address this, the HR manager devised a plan to "hunt" for Keio students hanging out at "Sentakusen" on the second floor of Loverin, frequently visiting the shop to talk to them. As a result, he recruited three men who became my colleagues. You might think it was only three people, but since there were only five Keio-graduated men in our cohort in total, it was a bumper crop unlike any year before or after. We worked together as colleagues for over 40 years. Now we have all reached retirement age, but they remain irreplaceable friends who shared that era with me. Having seen the area from my student days through my career, I have witnessed not only the shopping district of that time but also its subsequent transformations. Yet, for some reason, I don't remember those changes very well; it is the scenery of my youth from those days that moves me the most.