Memories of 2025: Beer Garden Edition
Good evening🌙 This is Edomae.
With only 22 days left in 2025, I've decided to write at least one post every week in December about my favorite memories from this year.
Also, I'd like to do a quick monthly recap from January to December. I'll do that in a separate article.
This time, I'll be writing about the 'beer garden' in August.
This wasn't in Tokyo, but rather at a local beer garden I visited when I went back home.
The beer garden venue was divided into areas by beer brand, and the area we went to was a funky one where music was blasting from the speakers.
However, the tables were packed with people who wanted to drink that specific brand of beer.
Everyone looked like they were having a blast.
The area was also incredibly huge, almost like a small festival venue.
Then, a group of working professionals (who looked to be in their 40s or 50s) stood up and started having a great time to the music playing.
What's more, they were even egging others on to join in the fun.
This group probably consists of people who are in management positions at their companies and carry a lot of responsibility, so they might be used to giving feedback to subordinates or feeling under pressure.
But seeing them gathered at a beer garden on their day off, making so much noise, actually made me feel energized too.
Looking in the opposite direction, Masayuki Suzuki's 'Megumi no Hito'was playing, and there was a middle-aged man holding a beer mug in his right hand, swaying happily to the song.
It must have been a song from his prime, and he was clearly overjoyed.
It was nice to see him having such a good time.
Next was Shonan no Kaze's 'Suirenka'.
Some people were swinging towels around, while others were singing along at the top of their lungs, 'Ah, ah, summer jamboree🎵'.
The call-and-response was perfect. Everyone was getting tipsy, and the energy in the venue was rising.
To keep the momentum going, B'z's 'Ultra Soul'also started playing.
Only 7 minutes until last call (lol).
This was just...
The energy in the venue was building up rapidly.
At the moment of 🎵 'Soshite~ kagayaku Ultra Soul! Hey!!',
the deep voices of the adults echoed throughout the venue.
The beer garden was wrapped in a mysterious sense of unity that is hard to describe.
And that wasn't all.
Maki Ohguro's 'Ra Ra Ra'played.
I first learned of this song at that beer garden.
At the moment of the 🎵 'Ra, ra ra ra~' phrase, the adults raised their hands and started swaying them from side to side.
Is this a karaoke staple now?!
Even with expressions like 'Oh, me too?', everyone was waving their hands to the melody.
This is the kind of song where everyone links arms and sings with teary eyes... honestly, this is such a great song... just learning about this song made going to the beer garden worth it.
And furthermore...BEGIN's 'Shimanchu nu Takara' and Southern All Stars' 'Katte ni Sindbad'were also played.
For 'Shimanchu nu Takara', '♫Iya-sa-sa!'the call-and-response was wonderful.
Listening to the singing voices of the adults with their deep tones was incredibly fun.
I realized that the little worries I had been struggling with weren't really a big deal, and I was able to soak in the pleasure with a beer in hand in a comfortable state of mind.
The mysterious sense of unity at the beer garden was irresistibly interesting.
Ah, I wish I had worked part-time at a beer garden when I was a student🤧
Thank you for reading until the end.