The first place in Hirosaki Keizai Shimbun's 2023 annual PV (page view) ranking was a news story about the cafe ``Blue Eight'' that had a sign saying ``We'll give you a store.''

The ranking is a compilation of the PVs of "Headline News" distributed from January 1st to December 15th of this year. The top 10 rankings are as follows (posting date in parentheses).

1. Hirosaki's cafe "Blue Eight" will "open the store" at the closing of the 75-year-old owner (1/7)

2. World-renowned professional gamer Daigo Umehara completes a 300km walking trip to Hirosaki Park (4/17)

3. Locals are excited about “Saizeriya” opening in Aomori for the first time, with lines expected online (2/3)

4. All 24 Aomori “Satocho” stores will be closed, ending 126 years of history (10/19)

5. Aomori inn is looking for adopters for free, exploring ways to reuse (9/13)

6. Hirosaki's "banana ice cream" crisis overcome thanks to information from Haruma Miura fans (5/8)

7. Aomori Inakadate “Rice Paddy Art” changes unlike usual due to the intense heat (8/30)

8. “Uo Uo Uo” is a delicatessen and bento shop with a fish tank in Hirosaki, and also buys and sells live shellfish from all over the country (9/27)

9. Private Yakiniku restaurant "Gyuten" in Hirosaki - Realizing a dream postponed due to Corona (6/3)

10. Aomori supermarket “Satocho” applies for application under the Civil Rehabilitation Act and seeks business continuity (6/26)

Blue Eight, which came in first place, is a coffee shop that has been in business for more than 30 years in Hirosaki.The cafe had been considering going out of business due to the aging of its owner, and had been posting a sign inside the store since the end of last year that read, ``Blue Eight is here for you.'' . The response was great, with Hirosaki-born comedian Jiro of Sissonne reacting on social media, and there were inquiries from outside Aomori Prefecture. A new owner took over the management of the store on April 30th and continues to operate.

Daigo Umehara, a world-famous professional gamer, came in second place and was born in Hirosaki. As an independent project, we streamed online the challenge of walking from Sendai to Hirosaki Park. By the time it arrived at Hirosaki Park, 13,000 people were watching at the same time. Even after arriving at Hirosaki Park, Umehara streamed online footage of her walking around her hometown, Hirosaki.

Third place Italian restaurant Saizeriya opened its ELM store in Goshogawara on May 30th, its first in Aomori Prefecture, and opened its Hirosaki Hiroro store on September 21st. Since the store opening was announced in February, it has been a hot topic of interest throughout the year.

The closure of the Satocho supermarket also attracted a lot of attention. Satocho used to operate 24 stores mainly in the Tsugaru area, but the business has now been transferred to ``Trial Company'' (Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture), which operates a discount supermarket, and now operates 18 stores.

There has been an increase in news about business succession this year. Issues such as the aging population and lack of successors are increasing year by year. Next year as well, I would like to be the first to inform you about new movements and topics in the Hirosaki area.