It’s been said to us that in Japan if you’re a loyal customer you’ll be treated well, but until recently it seemed like a lot of lipservice…as a followup to my writeup a few weeks ago I wanted to provide a quick update on the local merchants.

On Friday afternoon while work was a little slow I took the opportunity to revisit the baseball card store. By the time I got there, at first glance the place appeared empty and only after I meekly uttered the words, “Good Afternoon” did I get a response. Within seconds the shopkeep, a rather stout man in his mid 30s, bounded from behind his desk with a stack of cards that contained all my favorite players. Keep in mind I visited the store weeks ago casually mentioning a few players I liked to collect. Now I had everything I needed without even having to look which cracked me up, but at the same time kind of took the fun out in going as half the fun is getting to sift through the stacks on my own.

So after adding a few more to the pile, I thanked him graciously for his efforts; meanwhile as I paid him he hands me a note letting me know when he’ll be on vacation so I don’t visit the store while he’s absent. Great right?

The next day at the dry cleaner I turned over a pile of clothes that made the shopkeeper giddy with delight. In realizing that we were indeed loyal customers, she gave me a point card with a ton of stamps and informed me that if we fill it up we can get a mug as she gestured to the pile of three on a shelf sitting in the corner. Not quite sure how to respond, I quickly babble in my best Japanese, “Thanks, I’m sure my wife will love it!”