Finding a perfect burger is always cause for celebration. Finding one when you weren’t even looking is almost worth becoming religious over. The thing about this particular perfect burger is that it ticked a lot of vibe checkboxes for me: tiny, slightly grimy hole-in-the-wall shop with a solid menu, boho vibes, and a price that didn’t make my wallet bleed out. The other thing is that it’s one of a kind.

Well. Two of a kind. Tangiers Cafe 2nd is the second of two locations in the greater Tokyo metro area and that is something that is beginning to feel very scarce; increasingly it feels like every new restaurant, store, cafe, or odd little retail experiment is either part of a chain or owned by one on the d.l. And that kinda sucks.

Naturally, I blame Starbucks. I remember local cafes being put out of business by Starbucks as a deliberate strategy on the corporation’s part. Or at least that was the rumor and that was how we eyes on the street interpreted things. In the years since Starbuck’s rise to zeitgeist glory, that feeling has only gotten stronger.

There’s fodder here for fiction, of course. Dystopian, near-future, sure. But it feels more important for historical fiction. When did the chain/franchise model truly begin? My instinct says post-WWII but research is needed.

In the meantime, I’ve got to order some Lemonade base because, damn it, you’ve got to vote with your money. It’s the only language corporations speak.

File under: worldbuilding