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Anime-loving bar owner also philanthropist, offers free drinks, place to chill to typhoon victims

Casey Baseel Sep 12, 2015
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Japan spent most of this last week getting pounded by torrential rainstorms. This wasn’t just a case of people getting their socks wet, either, as flooding caused damage to houses, disruption of train lines and highways left some people stranded away from home, and in some extreme cases residents even had to be evacuated by helicopter.

But while the rains stimulated the craziness in some people, they brought out the generosity in one bar owner in Tochigi Prefecture, because while the rain was falling on Japan, drinks were on the house, as he took to Twitter to offer free booze or a place to rest for victims of the typhoon.

The Gundam Bar 0079, located in the city of Utsunomiya, isn’t officially affiliated with the famous anime mecha. Rather, its owner is simply a fan of the franchise, and it seems he’s also pretty fond of doing what he can for people having a really bad day.

On the night of September 9, heavy rains were falling over much of the region, but the vicinity of the bar was in no danger. Because of this, the owner decided to send out the following tweet through 0079’s official Twitter account.

【おしらせ】本日、当店は自粛休業せず、無料飲み放題で解放いたします。被災した、帰れない、仮眠したい、被災していないが気持ちが落ちた、そんな皆様をお待ちしております。お見舞い代わりです。これくらいしかできなくてすいません。宇都宮ガンダムBAR｢0079｣ ℡028-622-0079

— ガンダムバー「オールドタイプ」＠宇都宮 (@Bar_OLDTYPE) September 10, 2015

“We’re open tonight, and offering all-you-can-drink beverages for free. People whose homes have been damaged during the storm, or are unable to get home, need a place to rest and take a nap, or just those of you who are feeling down, come on by. I’m just sorry I can’t do more for you.”

Needless to say, this attractive offer quickly got people’s attention, and the sociable owner even answered questions about what kind of drinks (both alcoholic and non) he had on hand, plus sweetened the deal by saying he’d throw on a tokusatsu (special effects martial arts) DVD to watch in the bar.

Because he was still in the giving mood, he tweeted again, this time with:

【追記】何もなかった人でも｢タダ酒ラッキー♪ウェーイ(^O^)｣で御来店いただいていいですよ。その代わり、被災した人や関係者が周りにいたら元気付けてあげるのが条件です!!

— ガンダムバー「オールドタイプ」＠宇都宮 (@Bar_OLDTYPE) September 10, 2015

“Those of you who aren’t victims of the typhoon, and are thinking ‘Sweet! Free booze!’ are welcome too. But in exchange, if you know someone who has suffered during the storm, do something to cheer them up in exchange.”

Kind-hearted anime fan or not, the fact remained that this was a rare case of a businessperson giving away his product for free. In short order, several Twitter users expressed their admiration at his selflessness, calling the owner “generous” or “amazing.” And while those are both apt descriptions, we should also add “humble.”

「太っ腹」「偉い」などの褒め言葉もいただきましたが、本来お酒の原価は大したことありませんので決断できるのです。さらに本日はたまたまアルバイトたちも休みで人件費の心配もありません。

— ガンダムバー「オールドタイプ」＠宇都宮 (@Bar_OLDTYPE) September 10, 2015

“People are being kind enough to call me ‘generous’ and ‘amazing,’ but really I can do this because the wholesale price for liquor isn’t that high. And my part-timers aren’t working today, so I don’t have to worry about labor costs right now either.”

Of course, sometimes even well-intentioned gestures don’t please everybody. A few dissenting opinions wondered whether this was any time to be knocking a few cold ones back, to which the owner level-headedly responded:

非常時の飲酒についてご意見いただきました。そう思われるのも当然です。ただ、家でニュースを見ているだけではイヤでしたし、通常営業してお金をいただくのもイヤだったんです。妥協点を探した結果です。偽善で自己満足です。でもそれでいいと思ってます。今回は火を灯す側だっただけです。

— ガンダムバー「オールドタイプ」＠宇都宮 (@Bar_OLDTYPE) September 10, 2015

“I understand that not everyone agrees that it’s OK to drink at a time like this. That’s a perfectly obvious conclusion to come to. But I felt so terrible just sitting at home and watching the news, and I didn’t feel right about opening up the bar and taking people’s money either. I thought about what I could do to split the difference, and this is what I came up with. I’m just doing this to please myself, but I don’t think there’s anything fundamentally wrong with that. I just happened to be in a position to do something this time.”

You know what? Even though the guy spends all day surrounded by booze of his own, we’d still like to buy this guy a drink.

Related: 0079 Twitter, blog
Source: Hachima Kiko, Twitter/@sousui0079