![monchichi_panda.jpg](https://greg.org/archive/monchichi_panda.jpg)
Unsurprisingly, next to this store, which I dubbed, “Jen,” was a food court where you could buy a sweetened crepe with bananas, gelato, custard, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and powdered sugar.
![case_study_takoyaki.jpg](https://greg.org/archive/case_study_takoyaki.jpg)
This ramshackle building was next to our Circle K. I didn’t think much of it until we walked by it at night, when it was open, and the upstairs was hopping.
The next day, looking at its inventive, case study-like I-beam construction from across the street, I came to like it.
![niihama_bottles1.jpg](https://greg.org/archive/niihama_bottles1.jpg)
![niihama_bottles2.jpg](https://greg.org/archive/niihama_bottles2.jpg)
From the two’s-a-trend dept., one morning I saw these inexplicable arrangements of water bottles, as if a Niihama has a guerilla-style Tony Feher.
![lightbulb_jp.jpg](https://greg.org/archive/lightbulb_jp.jpg)
![niihama_no_shade.jpg](https://greg.org/archive/niihama_no_shade.jpg)
A typical residential street in Niihama. 95 degrees, 90% humidity, trying to find shade under powerlines and bonsai trees.