The new owner of the café "Blue Eight" (Dotemachi, Hirosaki City), which became a hot topic at the end of last year, was decided in February.

The parfait and lunch menu are popular, and the store has been loved by Hirosaki citizens for many years as a place to remember their school days. According to Takami Tsunoda, the owner of the shop, when he started recruiting new shop owners with posters, he received inquiries and applications from all over the country.

The new owner will be Miwako Hasekura, who runs a bento shop in Hirosaki. It has been a dream of mine to open a cafe for many years, and he used to go to Blue Eight when he was a student. “I never dreamed that a few decades later, I would be opening a store that I used to go to,” says Hasekura.

According to Mr. Tsunoda, the reason he chose Mr. Hasekura was that he would "cook by himself." "Many of the applicants didn't do the cooking themselves and said they would leave it to someone else, so we excluded them from the selection process," he said.

The Blue Eight store name will remain. Mr. Hasekura is currently being taught the Blue Eight menu by Mr. Tsunoda. “Since I have cooking experience, I think I can come up with a meal menu, but parfaits and other sweets are a challenge for me in the future.

Mr. Tsunoda will continue to operate until April 20th. After that, the store will be renovated and business will resume. Tsunoda plans to move to his wife Akiko's birthplace after quitting the restaurant.

Mr. Tsunoda said, “We have been working together as a couple for 40 years. I was very happy to hear the voices of people who were nostalgic for the old days." "Thank you for your continued support of Blue Eight."