. not so much a sense of wanting to share, but a sense of wanting to communicate.
I wonder if your life in the U.S. had a great influence on your mindset.
Takasu:I was in Japan until I was 18 years old, and I think my basic character was already formed by then. After that, I spent 7 years in the U.S., and I think the U.S. had a big influence on me in terms of coloring my basics. So, just kidding, I was born in Tokyo and raised in the U.S. (laughs).
What was your life like?
Takasu:It was unserious (laughs). But there was no time to waste. During the day, I took classes, played tennis afterward, showered when I was exhausted, ate dinner, and studied, just in case. On the weekends, I was drinking and playing with friends. I was in California, but I got in my pickup truck and drove to Tijuana, Mexico, drank until morning, slept in the truck, and then went back to California a little later.
. It was in the 80's, wasn't it?
Takasu:Yes, in the late 80's . It was a world like the movie Endless Summer . The guys played silly games with each other all the time, and they didn't play it cool. That was a lot of fun.
What was the fashion like?
Takasu: At the time, reverse weaves by " Champion® " were starting to become popular with college logos. In stores that sold denim, there was a mixture of red-ear and regular Levi's® .
Did you like fashion?
Takasu:I didn't dislike it , but I didn't really like it that much. . I didn't feel like I was actively trying to be informed and fashionable.
I am interested in how you yourself were influenced by what you saw and how you arrived at your current style.
Takasu:I think my life in the U.S. had a great impact on me. It was a sensitive time for me. Also, the people I met while working back in Japan had a big influence on me, as I was lucky enough to go on many business trips abroad. I was lucky enough to go on many business trips abroad, and in the 80s and 90s, there were so many wonderful things and people. In the 80s and 90s, there were so many wonderful things and people. and I was able to meet the unique people who created them. Nowadays, people think about what to do with the output before creating it.
How do you sell it, how do you present it, etc. .
Takasu:Yes, yes. But at that time, there were many things that were made without thinking about such things, and those things were interesting. There were many times when I met the person who created them and thought, "This person is a pervert. Working with people like that, you can grow as a person, after all.
You must have had a sense of what was "interesting" when you saw such things, right?
Takasu:I might not have cared about the information behind an object, but valued the impact of a quick glance. Nowadays, information comes first. We judge an item based on the information given to us first, such as, "This item is great here," but that was not the case in the old days. But that was not the case in the past. Then I would purchase the item and find out why it was great. Then, I would take the time to tell the customer, "Isn't it good? I took my time and told the customer, "It's good, isn't it?
One of them was Aurora Shoes, of which Sunshine + Cloud is the official importer in Japan.
Takasu:Yes, that's right. I stocked many other brands, but it was interesting to meet brands that were just starting out and watch them grow and grow.
How did you come across "Aurora Shoes"?
Takasu:A friend in New York happened to introduce me to Birkenstock 30 years ago, at a time when the term "comfort shoes" had not even been coined. It was a time when "Birkenstock" had finally shifted from health sandals to fashion, and became popular among students on the West Coast. However, "Aurora Shoes" didn't look like sandals, and they were easy to match with clothes. So I decided to stock them.
It was 30 years ago.
Takasu:It was interesting to see how the shoes were accepted in various ways depending on the time period, such as as comfort shoes for the naturally inclined and as shoes for mature adults who are more relaxed. Recently, young people seem to be finding them fresh, and the model Serina Mottola seems to like them as well.
Do you feel strongly about recommending things you have found yourself to customers through your stores, or do you want to share what you like?
Takasu:It's not so much that I want to share it, but rather that I want to convey it. For example, we have a store on Amami Oshima Island, and we want to tell people, "Amami is nice, isn't it? Isn't it wonderful? We want to tell people that Amami is nice, isn't it? The same is true of Hayama, but we want to convey and show the good things there.
If you wanted to do business in apparel, you wouldn't think of opening a store in Hayama or Amami, would you?
Takasu:When I opened my store in Hayama in 1995, it was in a different location from this one . We moved here in 2013, and when I was first shown this place, I thought, "What am I going to do? . It was originally a recreation center for a company. But we managed to build the restaurant, kept on doing it, and little by little, customers started coming in, and the staff grew. It is interesting and fun to see the store grow in this way and the customers are happy with it. At first, I didn't think the odds were in my favor at all (laughs).
