"Kimono Center Golf Driving Range" (Ozawaizawa, Hirosaki City, TEL 0172-88-1234 ) will hold an event to commemorate the 45th anniversary of its opening on March 10th.

A commemorative event held on the same day that Yoshinori Adachi, the founder of "Kimono Center" (Minamigawaragacho), turns 90 years old. On the day of the event, 90 red and white steamed buns will be distributed to visitors on a first-come-first-served basis, and coupon tickets will be presented to those who have purchased coupons (until the 12th). Adachi said, "This is the first time we have organized an event. My family asked me to do it, so I decided to accept it."

Mr. Adachi was born in 1933 (Showa 8) in Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture. At the age of 18, he got a job at a kimono store in Kyoto, and when he was 20, he was ordered to move to Hirosaki. “Not only was there no one I knew, but it was also a land where the language (in dialect) was nonexistent,” says Adachi. At the age of 29, he became independent and opened a kimono wholesale company, Adachi Kinuori. At the age of 36, he founded Kimono Center, a costume rental shop.

According to Adachi, the driving range used to be a baseball field. “There were two, along with Hirosaki High School’s baseball field. It was the baseball field for the company’s grass baseball team, but the management of the team became difficult, and it gradually became a place to practice golf,” says Adachi. "I decided to open it as a golf driving range that I could go to every day. At the time, it was the first golf driving range in Hirosaki."

A total of 72 at-bats, including the second floor. 100 parking lots. Since it is difficult to remove snow from the 3,600 tsubo site, groundwater is drawn from two locations. At the beginning of the opening, Mr. Adachi himself picked up balls. It is said that there are 500,000 to 600,000 balls in the possession of the practice ground, as balls that are hit in the snow often get buried and cannot be found until spring. Adachi says, "We own 10 times more training grounds than similar-sized training grounds."

For 45 years, we continued to be particular about the price and the price. Even now, it is difficult to maintain prices due to soaring electricity and heating costs, but we will not raise prices for the time being. "We want to continue to maintain our prices through our corporate efforts. We had many customers even during the coronavirus crisis. As long as the area needs it, we want to make it a store that can continue to provide the best possible service," he said.

Looking back on the 45 years, Mr. Adachi said, "It went by in the blink of an eye." I lived there for 70 years and was able to build a relationship that allowed me to talk to people around town, which is the greatest asset that has allowed me to continue running the golf driving range,” he says with a smile.

Business hours are 8:00 to 21:00 in winter and 6:00 to 22:00 in summer.