CONTRIBUTED BY STACI HAWLEY
If you have been shopping or dining recently, you may have noticed an enormous bouquet located at the entrance. I’ve even seen them proudly displayed at our local gas station. I have admired these bouquets for years, knowing that they must have to do with the opening of a store- or promoting a new venue. Apparently, it is quite common in Japan for business partners to send an “open store” greeting. The flowers that you see here range in price from 250,000-260,000 per arrangement.
I consulted a Japanese friend, Seiko Higa, and she kindly put it like this:
“It’s called HANA–YA–SAN in Japanese. HANA means flower, and YA is store. As you know, SAN is kind of respect words, we use it for things, not only for person.”
So next time you’re out readers, take time to smell the flowers! It may lead you to delicious new cuisine- or a groovy store.
