Neighbors Higashi-jujo Tsubasa-san vol.3｜Hashi-Drinking at Everyone's Favorite Restaurant. This is the best part of living in a social apartment!

This is a corner where we ask residents to share their experiences in social apartments with us. This time, we would like to introduce the column “Second Youth, Social Apartment” vol.3 by “Inoue Tsubasa” who lives in Neighbors Higashi Jujo.

I want to have a favorite restaurant near my house. I want a place where I can just pop in, find a familiar owner or a regular customer, and casually chat with him or her. I have always wanted that, but until now, I have never been to a place that I could call a regular.

But now that I live in a social apartment, I finally have a place where I can become a regular. I probably would not have been able to do so if I had lived alone.

Living in a social apartment gives me more opportunities to go out to stores in the neighborhood with other residents. If you go with someone, it is easier to strike up conversations with store owners and other customers. Furthermore, because of the location of Higashi Jujo, there are many individual stores, and it is easy to become a regular customer.

Talking with the owner will teach you about other stores, which will increase the number of stores you want to go back to. You can learn about deep stores that only those who live there can understand.

However, I am not the type of person who goes to a restaurant alone and engages in conversation, so I usually go with someone else. I asked Abe-chan, a resident who often drinks alone in Higashi Jujo and has a number of favorite restaurants, to show me around.

It is like a stylish bistro. Schumi’s” is a place where it is easy to drink alone.

The first restaurant I visited was “Saketo Obanzai Shumizu. Located on Engeijo-dori on the way from Higashi Jujo Station to Jujo Station, this izakaya was opened in 2024. The main part of the restaurant is a counter, making it easy to drink alone. The interior is cute with a white and yellow color scheme and bright lighting. It gives the impression of a stylish bistro.

The restaurant has an unusual atmosphere, which is rare in Higashi Jujo, where many izakayas (Japanese-style pubs) with old wooden tables and chairs, warm lighting, and so-called red chochin (lanterns) are common.

The menu seems to change daily, and all of the dishes are delicious and make the drinks go down a treat. There are also many kinds of alcoholic beverages. They have a variety of drinks, including spiced shochu and cardamom shochu, which is a nice touch.

Abe-chan often comes here alone for a drink and asks the owner for advice. When Abe-chan arrived a little late for work, she entered the restaurant and engaged in friendly conversation with the owner. Just the kind of regular I envisioned. I envy her. ……

I see other tenants of Higashi-Jujo often visit Shumizu because of Abe-chan. The restaurant is close to the owner, and you can have a conversation with him while eating your food. It is just like the drama “Midnight Diner. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, and I can’t wait to come back.

Neighbors Higashi Jujo, the second lounge “Oku

Next, we headed to “Nomidokoro Oku. It is a snack-like izakaya that also offers karaoke, and is located just a 30 second walk from Neighbors Higashi Jujo.

The distinctive red lantern with “Oku” written on it can be seen from the lounge of Neighbors Higashi Jujo, so it has been a hot topic of conversation among residents since it opened in 2023. It has now become a familiar place for residents, where they all go often for a drink.

The restaurant was once rented out to host a farewell party for a resident who was moving out. I recall that the place seemed like a second lounge at the time, with so many residents in attendance.

When I entered the restaurant, I was greeted by the owner’s mother, who said, “Welcome! She greeted me with a warm “welcome”. This feeling is comfortable and reassuring, just like my parents’ house. Abe-chan is a regular who goes there alone for a drink, and the two other people I went with that day are also familiar customers, so our conversation is lively.

Drinking sake with oden as a side dish in a restaurant that has the atmosphere of an old-fashioned izakaya, I sincerely think that this is Higashijujo after all. ……

As usual, karaoke is played. Many of the people I often drink with like to sing karaoke, so when we come to “Oku” it usually turns into a karaoke contest.

Of course, it is not only a place where everyone can enjoy drinking together, but there is also a counter, so it is easy to come alone. I would like to go there alone while I live here.

The ideal snack bar “Thanks Ton” spreads out in the basement.

After “Oku” closes at 23:00, I usually head to the “Agetton” snack bar, which has become a regular course for me recently. It is located in the basement, and as soon as you open the door and go down the steep stairs, you are greeted with a dimly lit, moody scene perfect for late-night deep drinking.

Upon entering the restaurant, you are greeted by the friendly and talkative mama. What a reassuring feeling!　This is exactly the ideal snack bar I was looking for!

There are counter seats and box seats, and the counter seats have wide, comfortable chairs that make you feel right at home.

Another attraction of “Arigato Ton” is the delicious food prepared by the owner’s mother. The three dishes served as appetizers are handmade by the mom, and it is nice to know that the menu is different every time.

On this particular day, we filled up a bottle of wine and sang karaoke while everyone drank. This is the best part of a snack bar. Whenever I go to “Thankful Ton,” I usually drink a lot of sake, so I am often very drunk, and my memory is often hazy from the middle of the night.

On this day, we drank a lot, sang karaoke, and had fun. My memory is still a bit hazy. But I always remember that I had a good time, so I guess it was OK!

When I visited the restaurant later that day, I was relieved to hear from my mom, “I was just barely awake that day.

I now had a favorite restaurant. Higashi-Jujo, which I was not familiar with, has become “my town.

I have introduced some of my favorite restaurants in Higashi Jujo based on my own judgment, but there are many other restaurants that I often go to, and there are also a number of restaurants that each resident has a favorite. I think it is because of living in Social Apartment that I have been able to frequent such restaurants in Higashi Jujo.

There are about 50 social apartments mainly in the Kanto area, and each one is located in a different area. Because I live in the same place with other people, I can take a step into a restaurant that would be difficult for me to enter alone.

Since you are going to live in a social apartment, I would recommend that everyone create a favorite restaurant in that city. It will definitely raise the resolution of the city and you will become attached to it. You will also get to know the residents better and make more memories.

I would say that creating a favorite restaurant is the best part of living in a social apartment.

I myself found that I had established a favorite restaurant. I would go to my usual restaurant, talk with the familiar owner, and have a drink. I had never visited Higashi Jujo before, but now I can say that it is my town.

Now, which restaurant should I go to next?

(Reporting, writing, and photography by Tsubasa Inouye)