This video introduces Mr. Abe from “RF Café” in Joyful Minowa Shopping Street, featured in our fifth episode Part 1. The story unfolds from their operations in Nihonbashi through property searching to their relocation to Joyful Minowa. Initially, there were concerns about their proper pricing, which differed from typical “Joyful prices,” but after one year, they have been embraced by the local community. The café’s specialty is domestic fruit tea made with dried fruits produced by a female farm owner and blender who relocated to Niigata seven years ago, offering aromatic tea leaves including chamomile blends and blueberry cassis. The style of office workers taking takeaway after work to enjoy leisurely at home has become popular. Mr. Abe’s soothing, androgynous character perfectly matches the café’s atmosphere, and combined with his wonderful relationship with his wife, they create a space enveloped in love – a café that brings fresh air to the shopping street with hotel-grade quality.
Hosts (Ishizaki & Takasugi) 0:00 Hello everyone.
Host (Ishizaki) 0:05 Welcome to the fifth episode of Joyful Minowa Shopping Street Official YouTube Channel. Today’s program is hosted by Vice Chairman…
Host (Takasugi) 0:13 Yes, Takasugi, one of the two vice chairmen, and…
Host (Ishizaki) 0:15 Secretary Ishizaki. Thank you for watching.
This program introduces aspects of Joyful Minowa that various TV shows may have covered but haven’t fully explored – the shop owners and hidden gems that only we know about. Please enjoy!
Today, we’re visiting RF Café, which I’ve been really curious about for a long time. Here’s the owner, Mr. Abe.
Mr. Abe 0:56 Hello, I’m Abe from RF Café. Nice to meet you.
Host (Ishizaki) 1:04 The aroma has been amazing since we arrived – such a wonderful fruity tea leaf fragrance is wafting through the air. I’ve been curious about this place for so long – the white aesthetic of the shop and how it brings such fresh energy to Joyful Minowa. Could you tell us what inspired you to open RF Café?
Mr. Abe 1:31 Yes, of course. I previously had a shop in Nihonbashi, but it became difficult to manage financially, so I temporarily closed it. I was searching for properties for a long time but couldn’t find anything suitable. I kept looking persistently until finally found this perfect location.
Host (Takasugi) 1:56 Yes, initially I was worried about your pricing – you came in with prices that weren’t typical “Joyful prices.”
Host (Ishizaki) 2:05 That’s true.
Host (Takasugi) 2:11 But surprisingly, it’s been a year now, and you have customers – couples and such.
Host (Ishizaki) 2:21 Couples and such, yes.
Host (Takasugi) 2:24 Was this something you planned knowing it would work?
Mr. Abe 2:31 Yes. When I was in Nihonbashi, my regular customers were waiting for me to reopen. I needed to find somewhere within reach for them – somewhere accessible by the Hibiya Line, and since my previous shop was along Showa-dori, they could come from there. So I thought about setting prices closer to proper market prices, though still keeping them quite reasonable.
Host (Takasugi) 3:05 Oh, you kept the same prices as before.
Mr. Abe 3:08 Yes, the prices are about the same, but with current inflation, our costs have increased about 1.5 times.
Host (Ishizaki) 3:17 I see.
Mr. Abe 3:19 I wondered how it would work, but surprisingly, beyond my regular customers, local residents have also started coming. People who appreciate quality seem to be pleased and keep coming back.
Host (Ishizaki) 3:38 I imagine office ladies stopping by after work to buy tea leaves – that kind of atmosphere.
Mr. Abe 3:46 Yes, exactly. People often stop by after work to take something home to enjoy leisurely – that’s common on weekdays.
Host (Ishizaki) 3:57 When you’re tired and have a sip, it’s really healing.
Host (Takasugi) 4:04 Mr. Abe’s character also…
Host (Ishizaki) 4:06 You have such a soothing, androgynous quality that really suits this shop.
Host (Takasugi) 4:17 It comes through in the taste.
Host (Ishizaki) 4:19 Yes, really. And can I mention this? You and your wife get along so well. So the shop feels enveloped in love.
Mr. Abe 4:32 Oh, that’s embarrassing.
Host (Ishizaki) 4:38 And I’m really curious about these fruit tea leaves – what do you mainly use to create your fruit teas?
Mr. Abe 4:51 Ah yes, these come from a farm in Shinshu run by a female blender. She was originally working in Tokyo but wanted to grow fruit and turn it into dried fruit for tea, so she relocated about seven years ago. She grows the fruit, makes it into dried fruit, and blends it for us.
So when it arrives, the aroma is wonderful, and the taste is really special because it’s domestically produced.
Host (Ishizaki) 5:32 Like the chamomile blend?
I really love chamomile.
Mr. Abe 5:38 It’s an herbal tea with dried apples mixed in, making it very drinkable. It was quite popular during winter.
Host (Ishizaki) 5:53 You also have blueberry cassis.
Mr. Abe 5:56 Yes, that one uses imported ingredients for the blend, but the flavors are robust and blend well with fruit teas.
Host (Takasugi) 6:17 There aren’t many places in Arakawa ward where you can drink fruit tea.
And the cakes here are hotel-quality – incredibly delicious. They totally compete at this price point. You’re doing something amazing.
Host (Ishizaki) 6:29 You make the cakes yourself.
Mr. Abe 6:31 Yes, of course.
Host (Takasugi) 6:33 They’re incredibly delicious. I think you’ve tried them. The scones too, of course.
Host (Ishizaki) 6:39 I’ve had something like that pound cake.
Host (Takasugi) 6:42 The pound cake comes out so beautifully presented. You should try the cake. Look at all the satisfied faces here! Everyone’s jaws are dropping with delight.
Host (Ishizaki) 6:56 Oh, I’ll definitely try it next time.
Host (Takasugi) 6:58 It’s incredible. Really surprising.
Host (Ishizaki) 7:00 Really. The chairman was praising it too – how delicious it is. Amazing.
Host (Takasugi) 7:11 It’s making me drool.
Host (Ishizaki) 7:13 The way you serve it from that little window is so lovely.
Host (Ishizaki) 7:20 Oh!
Please note that this transcript was generated by AI and may contain some unnatural expressions or errors. We appreciate your understanding.