Goro Obata and the Architecture of a Good Life
Goro Obata runs a café in Hokkaido that closes when the weather is good. A short look at "Higashikawa style" and the intentional building of a fun life.
There is a specific detail in this short film about Goro Obata that I can’t stop thinking about: he owns a café in the mountains of Hokkaido that sometimes closes simply because the weather is too good. If the sun is out or the powder is fresh, the "Closed" sign goes up, and Obata heads for the backcountry. It is a radical prioritization of living over earning—a literal manifestation of "making hay while the sun shines," except here, the hay is skiing and fly fishing.
Obata describes this approach as "Higashikawa style," but it feels like a modern, Japanese answer to Thoreau. The line that hit me hardest wasn't about the skiing, but about agency: "If I just drift, in no time I’ll be an old man. I want to build a fun lifestyle." We often talk about building careers or building portfolios, but rarely do we apply that same architectural rigor to the simple act of having a good Tuesday.
