Hirosaki's bar "Bar Taian" ( Totemachi , Hirosaki City, TEL 0172-33-5139 ) moved to the Smile Hotel Hirosaki 1st floor on June 1st.

The shop mainly offers cocktails using original and seasonal fruits. The bartender Naoto Watanabe runs it. It is said that Sen-an is a tea room where Sen no Rikyu hospitalized the Sengoku warlord, and he named it because he wanted to entertain with cocktails.

Mr. Watanabe has been working in the downtown area, Blacksmith Town since he was 21 years old. “I worked at night because it was an image of money,” he recalls. When he worked as a boy at a karaoke pub, he became interested in cocktails because the shopkeeper was a bartender. "Bar Block House" (Shin Blacksmith Town) in 1993 (Heisei 5), "Bar Radio" on the first floor of the current Sky Park Building in 2002 (Heisei 14), "Nakakumi Alley" in 2004 (Heisei 16) Bar Waiting for hermitage started. He ran three bars at the same time.

Mr. Watanabe has won the National Bartender Skills Competition Challenge Division sponsored by the Japan Bartenders Association in 1999 and has been selected as a Hirosaki Meister Certified. It is one of the 12 bars nationwide introduced in the serialized column by author Shizuka Ijuin who wrote "Bungei Shunju," and was the only store in Tohoku that was introduced.

“I've been thinking about the move for a couple of years,” says Watanabe. As the number of visitors from outside the prefecture increased, I started to worry about tourist information and accommodation hotels. “I thought that the bar inside the hotel would allow customers to enjoy alcohol without having to worry about staying at the hotel,” he said.

The store area is 8 tsubo and there are 13 seats. I brought in prints of Kumiko work, shoji, and Shiko Munakata, which were in the previous store. For the counter table, stick to a single plate, and use sapwood wood with a width of 60 to 70 cm. Mr. Watanabe says, "I was able to use what I had been lying with for 20 years before the former president of the "Kasai Timber Shop" (Tonosaki), who I had been with for a long time.

The menu includes standard cocktails (850 yen and up), monthly cocktails (1,000 yen and up), seasonal fruit cocktails (1,000 yen and up), fresh fruit cocktails (800 yen and up). There is a happy hour, and there is no charge until 19:00. Having acquired a fixed-term liquor retail license, it now supports the sale of about 20 whiskeys by weight. 30 ml = 400 yen ~, 100 ml = 900 yen ~.

The previous store was closed for relocation on March 21 and initially planned to open on April 20, but the opening date was extended to June 1 due to an emergency declaration and a request for closure. Mr. Watanabe said, "Fortunately, the new coronavirus was only delayed in opening days, but it is no longer the same as in the past when customers only come to serve sake. The bartender is being questioned. I'll tell you."

Mr. Watanabe who worked as a bartender for almost 30 years. The idea of cocktails is also changing. “Before, I was obsessed with bartenders who provided a fixed amount of cocktails and protected it. Recently, I am changing the amount and the delivery method according to the customer. I may be degenerating as a bartender. I don't know, but the attitude of being pleased doesn't change." "I used to plan to retire at the age of 60, but now I'm planning to retire until I'm 70," he smiles.

Business hours are from 15:00 to 24:00.