Saturday, January 28, 2023

This is what replaced Tenbun:「"Takoyaki/side dishes standing bar Peke x Peke"」

Tenbun closed on March 28, 2020. The space it occupied was empty for a year and a half. Then on October 10, 2021, a new shop opened, Peke x Peke. I walked by the new shop a few times but never felt right about going in. But a couple weeks ago I went there to take photos and I did go in for a drink. Of course, it just wasn't the same. It seemed (bias warning) too new, artificial, cheap, trying too hard to be hip and stripped of any tradition and personality. I couldn't believe they tore out the beautiful old counter and replaced it with what they did. There weren't many customers (but it was a Monday evening) and none of the old Tenbun regulars were there. Replacing old shops with new chain stores is a part of the gentrification process going on at Keihan line train stations. Peke x Peke is not a chain. The manager told me that this is the only location with this particular configuration. But the owner has multiple shops.

You can get a good idea of the new configuration in my photos and then with photos from a web site I include below. Scroll to the end of this post for a link to see our beloved Tenbun.

Photos that accompnaied the announcement of the new shop on "Ko-shin," the Hirakata-shi Featured Event (i.e. advertisements) website.
https://www.hira2.jp/open-close/batubatu-20211018.html

Congratulatory flowers in front of the shop when it opened.

The new layout, counter, big screen TV...

Seating...

Take-out window.

Here's where to go to see Tenbun:
https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2020/12/behind-scenestenbun-closingpresentation.html

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