It's the end of the year.
It's time to look back on the year.
Recently at Bokumo, we have been asking customers who come to the counter to write down their "Kanji of the Year" (of course, it's optional).
Three years ago, I thought that since we had acrylic panels to protect against the coronavirus, why not use them as bulletin boards?Since then, it has become a tradition at the end of the year to ask people to write their "Kanji of the Year" and stick them on the acrylic panels.
This is quite interesting.
Some people write quickly, while others think carefully.
Some people write positive things, some people write negative things.
Looking at the many kanji characters posted, a regular customer says, "Wow, there were many different kinds of events in life this year."
I feel the same way.
There are some things I can empathize with, but there are also some things I just don't understand. Maybe it's an exaggeration to say that it's a microcosm of society.
This year, I wrote "sou" (dress) , which means to dress up in a new way.
For me, the biggest event this year was the renewal of Bokumo in April.
I wanted to keep this restaurant a fun place even after COVID-19, so I went ahead and did it. So far, the reviews have been pretty good, which is a relief. I like it because it's an easy place to work.
The menu has also been revamped, and we are now experimenting with new Asian dishes.
I hope that this new look for Bokumo will make a big leap forward next year.
The chef wrote the kanji for this year as "Trillion" .
I thought for a moment that it was a trillion yen defense tax increase, but when I asked him, he said it was a "trillion."
As he prepares food every day, he is finally seeing signs that the restaurant is getting better. He says he feels things are looking up for Bokkumo next year.
I realized that he was overseeing the daily work and keeping an eye on the flow as he worked. I am grateful for that.
I hope that next year, this project to put these acrylic panels on will not go ahead.
This time next year, I'll be feeling nostalgic and remembering that we had acrylic panels back then. I want to be able to say next year that there were no year-end parties until 2022.
With that future in mind, I will work hard for the rest of the year.
For those who haven't been to the renovated Bokumo yet, we will be open until the 30th of this year (but we are fully booked on the last day, sorry). We will be open from 1/6 in the new year, so please come if you have time.
Speaking of renovations, this happened a while ago, but Bokumo Wine's website was also revamped in January of this year.
We've been running the site with the new system for about a year now, and I think we've had fewer problems. I'm glad we renewed it.
New Zealand wine is delicious but hard to get. I would be happy if I could help alleviate that inconvenience even a little, and I would like to continue to be of further help in the future.
By the way, we run various campaigns from Christmas to the New Year, so orders increase during this time, but we are now able to send out orders more quickly than before, even if we receive a large number of orders. If you are still looking for wine for the New Year holidays, please feel free to come and buy! (laughs) We look forward to seeing you.
That's right, the kanji written at Kiyomizu-dera Temple this year was "sen" (war).
2022 was also the year that an unexpected war broke out.
Values are too different. We can't empathize. This creates frustration, which grows and grows. Then one day it explodes and leads to war. I once again felt that empathy is an extremely difficult task for humans.
But at least, I hope we can share a little bit of empathy at the end of the year.
For example, I think it would be nice to be able to share the feeling that, even with someone I don't particularly like, that a year really does go by in the blink of an eye.
Well, that's the last blog for this year.
This year, I wrote 47 times. Thank you to everyone who followed me.
I will write again next year at my own pace.
