Fukui: Unattended Ice Shop in Midsummer

Overview

An ice shop in Fukui that is open 24 hours a day, a rarity in Japan. The slowly frozen ice, ranging from huge sheets of ice to ice scraps, has a reputation for being "delicious and melting slowly. In the early morning, the store is crowded with anglers heading to the sea, and in the afternoon with people buying large quantities of ice for summer festivals. At night, bar-goers and drinkers from the nearby downtown area come to the ice shop to buy ice. One new mother of a snack bar says, "I'm getting divorced and I'm going to be independent, so I'm going to use this ice to make a water mix. Three days in summer, touching on “each happiness” born beyond the ice.