A Fukuokan's Notes from Sapporo

Because of this project, many familiar local names, including Tohji the stationer, were forced to move out. Some of them even closed their businesses.

So, I squeezed a visit to the building into my already packed schedule, assuming there would be a lineup of the latest, most stylish, and most state-of-the-art shops and restaurants... only to find everything I had seen somewhere before.

Bshop, Margaret Howell, Agnès b., Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten... and even AEON in the basement.

However hard they try to look stylish, AEON is AEON. What's more, a much bigger store is within walking distance, just a couple of blocks away.

There were already some vacant spaces, just one year after its opening with a massive fanfare.

Is this what they wanted to accomplish by ousting long-established local stores? Ironically, the new building houses Ito-ya instead of Tohji, which is now operating a few blocks away.

Because of this senseless redevelopment, I finally decided to break away from my attachment to the city that doesn't seem to respect local businesses.