Mizukami Shop Once in a lifetime

[A floating shop with Kuro-chan the black pug]

This floating shop opened in 1986 for passengers going down the river. It is built on a combination of boats and rafts, so it is literally a floating shop. If you go down the river through the canal, you will come across this shop on the water. If you ask the boatman, he will stop by, so the shop is crowded with customers ordering warm sweet sake in winter and ice cream in summer. Due to the impact of COVID-19, there were few boats passing by this year, and the number of customers was sparse, but in the usual tourist season, you can see many boats parked next to the shop. The shop can also be accessed from land, and you can go to the back of the shop from the parking lot of Hiyoshi Shrine (7 Sakamoto-cho, Yanagawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture).

When I visited the shop, I was greeted by the black pugs Kuro-chan (19 years old) and Jun-chan (11 years old). Kuro-chan must be over 90 years old in human years. “Shopping from a river boat is a rare experience in modern Japan,” said the owner. Indeed, in Southeast Asia and other places, there are many boat shops, and I have seen scenes of people buying things from them on TV. This may be the only place in Japan where you can have that experience today. Ice cream is popular throughout the year. The soft serve ice cream made with Hokkaido milk has a rich milk flavor.

Adjacent to the shop is the “Eel Memorial Monument” with a handwritten tanka poem by the writer Ryu Hanji engraved on it. Every July, an eel memorial service is held in front of this monument. This is a shop where you can enjoy the scenery of the quaint floating shop while eating soft serve ice cream.