Thank you for purchasing Dagashi-ya Yahagi: Setting Up a Sweets Shop in Another World volume one. As an author, it’s a great pleasure to be able to share one of my stories with you all. I would also like to express my thanks to everyone who made this publication possible, and Neruzo Nemaki-sensei for their wonderful illustrations. Thank you very much.
If I must confess, my mother was strict, and she never bought me dagashi when I was a kid. I’m sure it was because she was worried for my health, but I have bitter memories of looking on as the neighborhood kids around me enjoyed their dagashi. If I ever said something like “But Acchan’s parents buy them for her,” my mother would immediately pull out her trump card: “Our house, our rules!”
But then once I entered the upper grades of elementary school, I also began to go to the dagashi-ya in secret, so her concern for me went to waste. She’d find me out from my bright red tongue, dyed by the artificial food coloring. During those moments, I’d obediently listen to her scoldings, and then I’d go to the dagashi-ya with my friends again the next day. The dagashi-ya was the social hot spot for kids, and I was the belle of society. I couldn’t just not go. Oho ho ho! (Lie.)
This work of fiction was born from these memories. When I overlaid these nostalgic memories with fantasy, it opened a door to a new world. I then immediately ran off to a dagashi-ya in order to gather material.
It was only natural, considering it’d been a few decades since I had last crossed the threshold of a dagashi-ya, but there were tons of dagashi I’d never seen before in the store. On the other hand, there were dagashi that’d been around for decades as well. There were also several that were no longer in production. Nostalgia and loneliness mixed together and wrenched my heart. However, I felt that the sight of children buying dagashi and toys wasn’t much different from back then. Even with the impact of the changing times, a dagashi-ya’s essence doesn’t change much.
I’ve taken up fishing since last year. It started with an invitation from some fellow creators, and I got completely hooked. I’m writing this toward the end of June, and the weather continues to be humid. Today, I’m once again looking up at the cloudy sky and dreaming of the riverbank on a clear day. Once the rainy season ends, I want to go to the Sea of Japan or the Pacific Ocean.
I’ve been catching horse mackerels and Japanese whitings and cooking them at camp. Eating freshly caught fish with some sake just hits the spot. I can enjoy both the sake and the fish. I don’t eat dagashi like I used to as a kid, but if I start talking about it with my fellow light novelists over drinks, they get pretty excited.
Not only does dagashi excite them, but also nostalgic toys. I guess it’s how that one saying goes—a leopard can’t change its spots? A certain novelist got really passionate as they were talking to me about Gundam plastic models and Mini 4WDs. Of course, I didn’t forget to take notes! I’ll use them as reference for the next installment.
Please turn the pages of this book.
Can you hear it? The rattling sound of the aluminum sash door opening?
Can you see them? The stacks of colorful snacks? The lottery cards hanging and the toy boxes lined up on the wall?
“Welcome.”
Dagashi-ya Yahagi is waiting for you.
—Bunzaburou Nagano