Beloved, Unexplainable Stories / Monthly JIYUCHO Letter vol.66
Once a month, at the end of the month, JIYUCHO sends out our newsletter, the Monthly JIYUCHO Letter.
Yamamoto, the manager of JIYUCHO and FUTO, shares poems we recommend that month, information about upcoming events, and little scenes from JIYUCHO that may make you smile.
Below is the newsletter sent on July 1, 2026.
We hope you will enjoy reading it. If you would like to subscribe, you can do so from the bottom of the JIYUCHO homepage.
Greetings from the manager of JIYUCHO and FUTO
Good evening. This is Yamamoto, manager of JIYUCHO and FUTO.
It is July. Every year I have the impression that typhoons become more frequent once summer begins, but this year two typhoons came close to the Kanto region in June. I hope all of you have been safe.
Of course, a typhoon arriving is not something to be happy about. Still, when I was a child, although I cannot say it too loudly, I remember feeling a little excited by them.
Looking out at a window that had gone dim even though it was still daytime, the world seemed just a little different from usual. I feel as if I used to think, perhaps today I should do something special.
How about you?
As an adult, naturally, most of what I feel is closer to, oh no, this is difficult. With those irregular days continuing last month, some of you may have had a hard time. Truly, thank you for your work and care.
And now, a new month begins today. I would be happy if this Monthly JIYUCHO Letter could accompany you for a moment that feels like taking a deep breath.
This email is sent to those who requested to subscribe to the Monthly JIYUCHO Letter in our shop or on our website.
Podcast JIYUCHO FM: The richness of moving through a world we do not understand / Worries and thoughts from JIYUCHO's manager and owner
What is JIYUCHO FM?
JIYUCHO FM is a podcast where manager Yamamoto and JIYUCHO owner and poet Shohei Koyama talk enjoyably, and sometimes seriously, about everyday events and themes sent in by listeners.
About this episode
This time, we talked about how to spend time alone.
When asked what kind of time alone had felt good recently, Koyama answered, the time I spent reading a fantasy novel.
Why did that time feel so comfortable? As the conversation continued, we found ourselves thinking about enjoying what we do not understand while leaving it as something we do not understand. In an age when we can access information instantly, there may be things we have unknowingly lost.
What kind of time alone do you like?
We would be happy if you listened while placing the conversation alongside your own ways of spending time.
You can listen on the following three platforms.
Please search for JIYUCHO FM.
Stand.fm
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
July and August opening schedule
The season is finally moving into summer. At FUTO, we have prepared a Summer TOMOSHIBI LETTER that feels just right for the arrival of summer.
Before summer fully begins, it offers a moment to pause and wonder, what kinds of memories might I make this year? We recommend it for just such a time.
This summer, JIYUCHO and FUTO will also be taking a summer break. We apologize for the inconvenience, but some opening hours in July and August will differ from our usual schedule. Please take care when visiting.
Summer opening notice
July 25, Saturday: 10:00-18:00, shortened hours due to the Sumida River Fireworks Festival.
August 12, Wednesday, to August 18, Tuesday: summer break.
We will return to regular opening hours from Wednesday, August 19.
Opening hours
JIYUCHO
Weekdays: 13:00-18:00
Weekends and holidays: 10:00-20:00
Closed: Mondays and Tuesdays, open when they fall on holidays.
FUTO
Weekdays: 13:00-18:00
Weekends and holidays: 10:00-20:00
Closed: Tuesdays, open when they fall on holidays.
JIYUCHO and FUTO use dynamic pricing, so prices vary depending on the time of day.
If you visit before 11:00, you can use the space for less than during peak hours, and it is usually less crowded. If your schedule allows, please enjoy the cooler morning hours too.
Reservations
Reservations for both JIYUCHO and FUTO are available from our website.
We visited the rice terraces where the rice for BEAT ICE is grown
The other day, our shop members went to help with rice field work at the Kamiyamaguchi rice terraces in Hayama, Kanagawa.
The rice used for BEAT ICE, the ice cream served at FUTO, is grown there.
That day, we helped pull weeds. But once we entered the rice field, it was not so much weeding as trying not to have our feet swallowed by the mud. Some people even fell down.
Someone's voice rang out across the terraces: My bottom is cold! Everyone burst out laughing.
The next day, all of us had sore muscles, and the experience deepened our gratitude for the farmers who grow rice.
When I think that rice grown together with so many hands, conversations, and memories becomes the gently sweet BEAT ICE, each bite feels even more special.
Please enjoy the gentle taste of Hayama, whether as a companion while writing a letter or as a small rest during a walk around town.
We welcomed a work by painter Isao Makino, and would like to share a story connected to him
Our encounter with painter Isao Makino began through an editor who has long helped us. Our owner Koyama was invited to join Makino-san on a tour of the drinking places he loves.
Apparently the time they spent together was so cheerful and comfortable that it was hard to believe they had only just met. Since then, Makino-san has taught Koyama many things from time to time: about art, daily life, and even about drinking.
Makino-san is a painter, and he has also written many essays and books, including Kabocha wo Shio de Niru and Gaka no Mudaaruki.
As on the day Koyama first met him, Makino-san loves nothing more than talking with friends in good bars. Because of that, delicious meals and wonderful drinking places often appear in his writing.
I feel that the way he cherishes time with the people he meets, and enjoys those moments with his whole heart, naturally appears in his works too.
And now, amazingly, we have welcomed one of Makino-san's works into FUTO. It is displayed near the entrance, so please take a look when you visit.
Makino-san actually has a song called Ushimado no Uta, created together with musician haruka nakamura.
Makino-san wrote the lyrics and haruka-san composed the melody. By the way, we often play haruka nakamura's music at JIYUCHO and FUTO.
The song was made to be sung at the graduation ceremony of Ushimado Junior High School in Setouchi. The two artists held music and art classes and created it together with the students.
When the students sing it as a chorus, you can feel their fresh youthfulness and the warmth of the Ushimado area, and your own hometown naturally comes to mind.
Here is an excerpt from the lyrics.
I want to become a bird
I want to become the wind
I want to become a bird
Talking with friends about things that make no sense
...
I want to stay like this forever
Forever, just like this
Talking with friends about things that make no sense
May this singing voice
this voice
this voice
this voice
go on.
From Ushimado no Uta
Lyrics: Isao Makino and the 2023 graduating class of Ushimado Junior High School
Music: haruka nakamura
Incidentally, the other day Koyama and Makino-san, after spending time together as usual in a good bar, arrived at another place and sang Ushimado no Uta at full volume with their arms around each other's shoulders.
I was there too, and the sight of the two of them looking so happily impossible to explain felt perfectly suited to the lyric, I want to stay like this forever.
Makino-san also creates and publishes the art magazine Shigatsu to Jugatsu, which we sell at JIYUCHO and FUTO.
The magazine includes a serial essay by haruka-san, and volume 53, which we carry in the shop, happens to include writing about Ushimado no Uta.
Only a few copies remain, so if you are interested, please come soon. You can also purchase the magazine from our online store.
We hope that as you turn the pages, you can feel a slightly funny, kind time, as if you were spending it together with Makino-san and his companions.
A recommended poem in place of closing words
This month, we would like to introduce a poem that feels perfect for the season ahead.
It is a poem that seems to remind you of the straight, honest feelings you once held in some summer.
Blue,
where are you going?
Are you going beyond?
I am going too.
Wearing innocent cumulonimbus clouds
and showers that know everything,
I am going.
Love and romance,
freedom and dreams.
Today again, we are,
yes, we are great fools.
Ah, the blue that fills the sky,
where are you going?
Are you going beyond?
I am going too,
shouts summer.
Under the summer sky, I want to remain someone who can keep loving contradictions forever and say, that is youth.
From Aoyo! You can read the full poem from the linked article.
How did it feel?
After reading it, when you look up at the summer sky, you may feel as if you want to dive into that blue that stretches on forever, or set out on an adventure.
This summer, with the blue of the sky and the sea on your side, it might be nice to live a little more boldly and honestly than usual.
Have you decided on your plans for this summer?
Whether you love summer or not, I hope your days will be healthy and full of smiles.
Bonus words of the month
It is flowing, isn't it, the fanfare of happiness.
Words, or perhaps strange words, from a JIYUCHO member
Many of the members of JIYUCHO love eating. You may have noticed that this opening has now appeared three times in a row.
One evening after the very tough rice field work in Hayama mentioned above, we had gone to a hot spring and were eating dinner until we were completely full.
After enjoying large servings of curry and rice bowls, fried chicken, rolled omelet, and all kinds of main dishes, coffee soft serve was brought to the table.
Owner and poet Koyama suddenly began humming a mysterious melody: taan ta taan, tan taan.
Everyone asked, What happened?
Koyama replied, Hm? Can you not hear that sound? It is flowing, isn't it, the fanfare of happiness.
Everyone burst out laughing.
Fujii, a staff member who calls himself a poet in training, thought to himself, maybe it really is flowing.
Koyama looked toward Fujii, who seemed almost convinced, and said, Now then, you try playing it too.
Fujii answered, P-playing it?
Everyone else was thinking, Fujii, you really do not have to take this seriously.
The end.
Have you ever heard a fanfare of happiness when dessert arrives?
Perhaps the time we spend laughing together while talking about things that make no sense is exactly the kind of time that becomes very dear when we look back on it later.
When I hear the word summer, I remember my school days. I was in a sports club, so I recall a little of those hard summer practices.
The practices themselves were difficult, of course, but what I still often remember is the time on the way home when I fooled around with my teammates.
The effort I put in has surely become part of me, but the ordinary time with friends seems to have become just as important.
I imagine that even now, many of you are spending each day working hard at your jobs, studies, housework, and all the other parts of life.
As we move through this month, I hope we can also cherish the conversations with others and the moments when we can relax our shoulders and laugh in between those busy days.
See you again in the next newsletter, or at the shop.
See you soon.
From Yamamoto, manager of JIYUCHO and FUTO
