Description: Takeshi is the youngest in a long line of Japanese whiskey brewers. When his older brother refused to run Whiskers, the whiskey bar attached to the brewery, Takeshi offered to take it over for their aging father. His father, not wanting the family business to die, reluctantly accepted, though he found Takeshi's tattoos and laid-back attitude unsavory. But something amazing happened once Takeshi took over; lines began forming nightly at Whiskers, buzz about this bar that played Ghibli Jazz covers began to spread across social media, with plenty of chatter about its handsome new bartender who sported sleeves of ink.
Description: Yuuta is the most seasoned barista at the cafe. While he may come off as a bit serious and aloof, he’s extremely observant and will often perform small acts of kindness to those who need a little boost, such as a perfectly paired pastry (on the house!) with your espresso if it seems like you’ve had a rough day.
Description: Sakurako works in the same cafe as Maru, and she enjoys chatting with guests at the counter while making pour-overs. Customers will tell you that Sakurako makes coffee like she's performing a beautiful ritual, every action done with intention, yet she moves with ease, always the slightest smile on her face.
Description: “How to keep a fire sprite”. Because fire sprites require air, you cannot seal the container with a cork or stopper. To prevent your fire sprite from escaping, use a Shoboshi charm. Shoboshi (消防士) in Japanese means ‘firefighter’, the image on the charm is a vintage/traditional Japanese firefighter’s hapi coat.
Description: Daisuke is a field mouse who likes to explore his world. Though the forest is generally safe, he has to carry a pin with him in case he runs into snakes. Right now, he's collecting fresh dew so he can make rain drop cakes at home! He couldn't resist snipping a few lavender sprigs from the farmer's garden along the way...he knows he shouldn't steal, but Daisuke told himself that he'll share the raindrop cake with the farmer as payment for the plant.
Description: Recently, I had a dream that I was carrying an impossibly tiny whale made of stars in my arms. He was separated from his pod and I was trying to return him to the sea. Out of nowhere an enormous monster came to take him away. I was running on the sand trying to get him into the water, when another figure rose from the black waves, something like Poseidon, to fight the monster off while I pushed my way into the current. I held him in the shallow waves, coaxing him to sing, hoping his whalesong would summon his family, when my alarm woke me in that moment. It bothered me so much that my dream was unresolved, so this piece is my way of ensuring that I got the little guy back to his mama safely. Protea flowers are named for Proteus, the s...
Description: Kasumi was in her workshop one afternoon, working on her great-great-grandfather's watch (the darn thing hasn't worked in decades). Suddenly, the gears began to turn, she noticed something very odd... Little did she know, the watch actually held a hidden message, one that would send her on an aquatic adventure full of riddles, danger, and secret treasure!
Description: Aki’s Apothecary is a bit of a mystery; it never seems to be where it was before, no one can remember directions to it, and you won’t find it via Google Maps. But if you’re in need of healing, just whisper what ails you 3 times in the morning while drinking a cup of tea, and by sundown you will inexplicably find yourself drawn down a curious alleyway (strange, this path wasn’t always here, was it?) and into a shop flooded with light and the scent of lavender
Description: White snakes are considered messengers of good luck in Japan and are associated with many deities in Japanese culture. They're also believed to attract wealth, so some people carry a small scrap of snake skin in their wallet (humanely collected I hope!). There is even an entire museum dedicated to the white snake in Iwakuni, where albino rat snakes are in abundance due to efforts to protect this luck-bringer
