
A gas station on the Aomori West Bypass becomes a hot topic on social media with comments like "I love the visuals"
The gas station "ENEOS Aomori Nishi Bypass SS" (Ishie Miyoshi, Aomori City) is currently attracting attention on social media with people saying "I love the visuals."
The gas station that has been attracting attention is circular, with a staff room in the center and four fueling ports. On July 13, X-account "Walking Short Torpedo" introduced the gas station, saying, "I loved the visuals of this gas station so much that I filled up," and it received over 5,000 reposts and over 90,000 likes, with responses such as "It's like a merry-go-round" and "It's a branch of the Mushroom Kingdom."
The gas station is operated by Koyo Taxi (Arakawa Naruse), which handles taxis and tourist buses. According to Koichi Fukuda, who is in charge of the company, the company's founder and predecessor, Mitsuo Fukuda, moved to the United States in the 1960s and modeled the station after a gas station he saw in the United States.
The gas station opened in Okidate in March 1967. It was a circular gas station from the beginning, and moved to its current location in August 1973. "We introduced an automatic car wash machine imported from America, so I think it attracted a lot of attention at the time," says Koichi. The Aomori Bypass Central Gas Station (Tsutsui Yatsuhashi) and East Bypass Gas Station (Yadamae Yayoida), both of which are operated by the same company, also have the same circular gas station design.
In the 50 years of business, large supermarkets and shopping malls have been built in the surrounding area. Koichirō, who remembers being taken to the gas station as a child, recalls, "I would occasionally hear from traders that it was unusual because it was mushroom-shaped, but it had become part of the scenery and was no longer unusual."
Regarding the station becoming a hot topic on social media, Koichi said with a smile, "This has made me realize once again that this is a rare gas station even nationwide. I'm genuinely happy that so many people have become aware of it through the internet."