A connoisseur's shop frequented by buyer Keiji Kaneko. Omotesando Aoyama Konishi Shoten

The atmosphere of the store, the product lineup, the personalities of the owner and staff... everyone has their own reasons for visiting. We asked connoisseurs what makes a "trustworthy store."

photo: Jun Nakagawa / text: Emi Fukushima / edit: Chizuru Atsuta

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Selector: Keiji Kaneko (Buyer)
Owner: Suzuki Yosuke

Aoyama Konishi Shoten taught me the joy of buying wine. As soon as you enter, there is a wine cellar to the right, with a large number of bottles lined up. However, there are no explanatory signs, and it feels more like a warehouse than a store. The style is that you always choose your wine through a conversation with the owner.

He listens carefully to the occasion, who I'm drinking with, and what kind of person they are, and then carefully explains the history of the wine, the winemaker, and the taste. The bottle he comes up with, taking into account my clumsy words, is always exactly to my taste, and is always a favorite with those around me.

A store's value lies not just in its ability to buy and sell things, but also in its ability to make "proposals" that exceed expectations. As someone involved in creating a store focused on clothing, this famous store inspires me.

Inside Aoyama Konishi Shoten in Omotesando
The cellar is lined with over 4,000 unique bottles of wine, mainly natural wines, from Japan and overseas. Owner Suzuki Yosuke values listening to customers' preferences, rather than focusing on their taste, and instead asking them "what time of day, who they want to drink with, and how do they want to drink?" He will not only serve the wines on display, but will also occasionally open a cardboard box in the back and bring out the perfect bottle.

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