Post by Kosuke Ida

Hotel Owner’s Beloved Pug, “Deco” Before I ever learned the name Fabian Bowers, I came to know another side of Kobikichō 木挽町—the quiet life that existed just beyond the stage of Kabuki. One of the hotel owner’s greatest pleasures was spending time with her beloved pug, Deco. After visiting the veterinarian, she would sometimes stop by Hotel Atamiso. After the day’s banquet was over and the last table had been cleared away, Ms. Yamamoto would occasionally bring Deco into the empty ballroom. With the banquet manager quietly watching nearby, she would let him off his leash. Across the spacious carpet, Deco ran with boundless joy, while she stood smiling, savoring one of the few moments she could simply be herself. After the passing of the hotel’s founder, President Yamamoto carried the enormous responsibility of preserving the family business through years of change. Looking back, I often think those few moments with Deco were among the rare times she allowed herself to simply smile. In the evenings, Deco’s favorite destination was a small park on Tsukudajima 佃島, across the Sumida River 隅田川. As dusk fell, neighborhood dogs gathered there with their owners. There was the butcher’s pug named Tamasaburō 玉三郎, the lunch shop owner’s Shiba Inu named Kichiemon 吉右衛門—one after another, dogs bearing the names of famous Kabuki actors. It was a neighborhood where Kabuki was woven naturally into everyday life. Meanwhile, only a minute away, nearly 1,900 people flowed in and out of Kabuki-za 歌舞伎座as the afternoon audience departed and the evening audience arrived. Within minutes, the crowds disappeared. Traffic resumed. The streets became quiet again. That was an ordinary evening in Kobikichō—a place where the grandeur of Kabuki 歌舞伎and the simple rhythms of daily life existed side by side. Looking back now, I realize that Kobikichō was never just one of the Ginza town. It was part of the living world that quietly sustained Kabuki.