On Sunday we had Bokumo's 14th anniversary party.
The original opening month was July, but due to circumstances it was delayed by three months.
Thanks to everyone's support, the venue was packed on the day. Seeing all the people having fun and feeling the excitement made me realise that events are great after all.
It's a beautiful sight to see a store filled with happy faces. I realized once again that a store is only complete when its customers are excited.
Although the new staff were not used to event sales, they worked briskly and were a great help. I was also happy that former staff members came to celebrate.
The highlight of the party was the second half of the event, a live performance by the mysterious music group "Asthma Cats."
Well, to reveal the secret, it's not a mystery at all. The Asthma Cats are a duo consisting of Bokumo's chef and his friend (Non-chan). They both love cats and have asthma, which is why they got this name.
The two were classmates in high school and fellow musicians. They had also performed at our previous anniversary party, so when they took to the stage, it was obvious who they were.
But this time, the setting was good. The fact that the members themselves maintained their position as a mysterious unit was effective.
The two appeared wearing cat masks, in the style of cats in human form. After a brief greeting, the chef-like cat took out a letter from his pocket, saying, "This is for the chef who couldn't make it today."
"This is my first time here, so I don't know the details, but I'll read the letter from the chef.
What what?
"Those who come to the party today will be recognized as true Bokumo fans, or "Bokulers." The future of Bokumo depends on you Bokulers. Please bring more and more friends."
The masked cat read the letter aloud (in Kansai dialect).
That's amazing.
Isn't it a nice twist to entrust his feelings to a cat that is not himself (in the story)?
The band played three cover songs. Nonchan had drunk six glasses of wine before she started playing, so she forgot some of the lyrics, but that was part of her charm.
I hummed along to the song, and as I listened, I remembered many things and got a little teary-eyed. Music is great after all.
After that, I made two types of Iwasu's store pasta (chef's pasta) and everyone enjoyed it. It was fun to cook at Bokumo for the first time in a while.
And at the end of the event, one of the customers said to me:
"Next year will be our 15th anniversary. Now's the time to do something big again!"
yes.
For our 10th anniversary, we rented out Club Quattro and had a fairly large party. I think about 230 people attended. There was lots of live music and lots of alcohol. With the help of a lot of people, we were able to create a really lively event.
What about for the 15th anniversary? Maybe we should do something big again.
But the question is, will Bokumo continue until the 15th anniversary? This is a real question.
I know it's kind of lame to say this, but the situation for restaurants at night is tougher than you might think. As you can probably guess, the reason is that fewer people are going out drinking than before COVID.
I talk to the chef every day about how it will be today and whether any customers will come.
The chef gently (?) conveyed our honest feelings to us in the form of a letter entrusted to the cat.
However, simply lamenting the current situation will not get us anywhere.
We chose this job because we like it. We are free to do whatever we want. Whoever comes up with the idea wins. That's a good thing, and it's helped us get to this point.
Ok, here comes another opportunity to come up with ideas.
We will continue to work step by step to create an attractive store so that we can all have a fun 15th anniversary party next year.
Bokumo has changed up until now. But from now on, we need to do even more. We need to keep changing what's inside, without stopping. In a fun direction, of course. And our goal is to have a beautiful store, filled with happy faces.
I would be grateful if all of you reading this would drop in from time to time to see if this is the case.
And for all of you who have a favorite drinking spot, I'm sure you'll be delighted if you go back there for the first time in a while.
To avoid thinking, "That was a great place" after it has closed, please enjoy a refreshing drink at your favorite place from time to time.
Let's hang in there, bars.
