On Tue, 9 Jul 2002 12:53:32 -0700 mwisckol@ocregister.com wrote:
I cast my vote with the "long history of coffee houses in Japan" folks. I spent a year there in 1981-82, going to college in Fukuoka. I often met friends at coffee houses, which all seemed to be independently owned and mostly owner-operated -- each with distinctive touches that made it unique, occasionally with hobbyist themes. Younger people, at least, seemed to meet more often at coffee shops (during the day, bars more at night) rather than at somebody's house. At the time, I assumed this tradition stemmed from the smallness of the domiciles.
OK, let's ask Japan to keep a few of them around for the tourists. Or we could use the other alternative: put one in each museum to remind people of the good old time... In fact we could also use the French way: subsidise the places (to minimize the consequences of a strike from the owners). Patrice. NR: AU BONHEUR DES DAMES: Emile Zola (about the disappearance of little shops in Paris due to the creation of the big department stores; was written in... 1883).