Smell of Summer

The slow burn of the sun was densely pressuring the skin of Hayamo Chinami. The breeze from the ocean was making her able to stay on the roof of the world-famous Umibe no Soyokaze restaurant for now, but she knew it was time to go. Still an hour before opening she was already at the location ready for a busy day. As she looked at some of the early bird tourists and regular joggers, whom she made a few connections with over the years, she prepared herself mentally for the day ahead. Although the few familiar faces that were present got obscured by the sun. There is nothing like the sunrise at Shirahama Onsen beach. It burns with a warmth that can not be matched by any grill or fireplace. Although it can be surprisingly hot for those customers that came from many different parts of the world, the locals slowly got used to it. Chinami spends her mornings like this. Every day looking directly at the burning sunrise as her skin screams for help, which she does not care about. The sight that she can behold is worth the pain. 

Slowly her spirit and thoughts return to her body and before any of the summer job teens start coming for their morning shifts she gets a few things ready. She starts with setting up the tables outside the restaurant’s big windows that are at the moment reflecting the sun and the sea. As she sets up the cheap yet sturdy wooden tables she decides to get the blinds down, because the sunglasses are not enough for the light that the windows reflect. She doesn’t want to lose customers, because they become blind just by the end of breakfast. As she gets all the tables the automatic blinds roll down and cover up the light with ease. On the way back to get the tablecloths, she decides to get the music going. One of the friends that she made on the beach has a son that is a DJ who put together a good soundtrack for their restaurant. The slow and chilling beats that come from the multiple speakers at the top of the main hall, fill the room and a sense of calmness and lightness takes over the air. The song was Wasurechau Hitotoki from the Fishermans. Chinami knew this as she always loved that song very much. Not many people heard it because she always starts the music way before they are open, but the few that next to the restaurant in the morning always got their phone out and used Shazam to later download the song for themself. She put the light blue tablecloths in their rightful place and started getting the chairs from the storage room. The matching light blue colour of the tablecloths and the cousins on the wooden chairs fitted very well with the white wooden outside structure of the restaurant. The big windows usually take the praise when it comes to the design, but Chinami’s favourite part was always the white coloured wood, which she picked 9 years ago and which to this days still holds its beautiful pure white colour, even though it has been challenged by the sun for nearly a decade. As she gets the chairs out the music switches and the song Gospel For A New Century from Yves Tumor started playing that always changed the mood from light and chill to a bit more active. This was personally added by Chinami as she does need something to get her work ethic going. She got the chairs out and just as she was finishing it the first of the few chefs rolled up in his bicycle. He locked it tightly, because it was stolen once before, and with a passing “Kon’nichiwa” rushed into the kitchen to start getting that ready. His name was Fudo Gurume and as Chinami saw him, she was reminded of when they hired Fudo. He was very awkward and scared, he bowed all the time, to an extent that it was even unusual to a native Japanese like Chinami. However, when the kid started cooking, like a totally different person he created something that wasn’t even a question they wanted to taste again and again and again. He slowly got better growing from Commis to Chef de Partie and in the last two years he got himself flooded with job offers, but he stayed. He is a good kid. Slowly the other started coming in. Some old dogs and some new ones who came for the summer. Chinami and the head chef Katashi call the summer job teens, Tan Hua because they disappear just as fast.

The restaurant is slowly becoming presentable and within the next 15 minutes, it becomes the dream-like place that Chinami imagined when she started her journey on becoming an owner. The restaurant was ready and she opened the doors. One of the most satisfying parts of a day is this. The slow metallic sounds of the glass doors opening and then with a loud and reassuring click they stop. The part of the mornings that Chinami always loves is the very early minutes. All the casual tourists are still asleep or having breakfast at the hotel they stay in, so all the customers are locals. There is something different when you see locals at your restaurant versus when you see tourists. Chinami always felt that, but she never managed to realize why she liked it more. It’s because of the feeling of being in a community. She grew up in the old village of Nakasatsunai and she never got that feeling of community that she got there ever since she moved to the city of Tokyo. She always knew something was different. During the years when she felt cold and isolated between all those huge concrete pillars where people were hiding. She needed something small, but she never knew why. She still doesn’t but at least she doesn’t have to. She found happiness anyway. As the locals slowly go away the main attraction comes in. Hanzo Watanabe, their main waiter. He is late as usual. Chinami would have fired him a long time ago because of that, but she just couldn’t bring herself to it. He is one of the best if not the best waiter in Japan. The people love him and he can speak 4 different languages just to seal the deal. To try and make him come in earlier Chinami slowly lowered his salary, but even at the point when he was working for a lower salary than a McDonald’s employee, he was still late, so she just gave up. Hanzo is energetic as always and goes on having fun with all the American and Spanish people in the restaurant. He is an essential part of the Umibe no Soyokaze experience. As the day goes by more and more people come in. Chinami at this point doesn’t have much to do. She isn’t an essential part of her perfectly working creation. She likes to watch and count the food, so she knows what are the most liked and by whom. As expected around the summer the most ordered meal is the Ramen, because the tourists only heard of that. She is surprisingly okay with the tourists. Obviously, there will always be a few foodies and stiffs, but she didn’t mind designing the restaurant to please the masses. The DJ that she got had a brilliant idea which she always gets reminded of that the playlist by the afternoon should play songs that the tourists know. So at the moment, the Bran-New Lovesong from the pillows is playing for those that are a fan of FLCL and they already passed multiple songs from the Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack. As they slowly pass the golden hours even Hanzo gets a bit tired so he usually orders something for himself. Chinami and Hanzo usually spend their lunch break together which made them good friends over the years. They like to talk about lots of things. Sometimes current politics, but that always gets depressing, very quickly, so they just end up sharing stories from the past. Many of them have things to talk about as there were lots of strange things that happened in this restaurant. Chinami usually remembers that time when she was nearly recruited as a K-Pop star by some shady-looking guys. She said no as any normal person would, but to this day the offer still flatters her. 

Slowly the sun that was once shining on them so bright goes down and they are not in any kind of good position for that as the sun does not go down on their side. They don’t get the biggest traffic because of it, but that is good because by this time many of the chefs are tired. Hanzo is probably superhuman because that 15 minutes break with Chinami makes him go and work for the next 7 hours without even asking for a break. Many of them theorized that if he would ever get a good sleep he could probably power the entirety of Japan by himself. Chinami watches as the endless stream of people come in and out. She admires her staff as they have been working around the clock for so long. She really admires them all, even if they only stay for a month or so, because she makes damn sure that when the people work here, they work properly. So from the Bubble Dancer to the Head Chef everybody does their job and by this time they finish the day the work that they completed would be admired by a soldier let alone a waiter. As the sun goes down she starts going around tables, asking about the food, the place, the weather or just simply doing some small talk as she lights the candles in the Asaki beer bottles. The little candlelights on the outside really make the place look magical. Chinami loves the little baby that she created from barely anything. After her grandmother passed away she decided to use the fortune she left behind to use for this restaurant. Her contribution has been forever cherished ever since she was gone and a picture of her is still hanging on the wall right next to the couples that got engaged here. Chinami got proposed here, twice and preceded to say no on both of these occasions. She never felt she needed another half and she was certain that the housewife lifestyle was not for her. She was okay with her relationship status as it is The hours slowly melt away and the people slowly disappear but only after Hanzo passive-aggressively gets rid of a few campers. The restaurant is ready to close. She slowly closes the glass door and listens to the metallic sound that she heard today which for some reason feels such a long time ago. As she walks out in the back of the house she shouts “Itomagoi!” one last time. She hears the song 4:00 A.M. by Taeko Onuki and walks away. She has lots of thought still in her head about the restaurant, but they slowly fade away as the rushing sound of the cars passes her by. But by the time she gets home, right in front of her door, the only thing she can think of again is just going to sleep so she can rush to the restaurant and see the sunrise again.