Potential absence makes the heart grow fonder
I previously mentioned the line phenomenon in Japan. You see lines being touted on Japan’s countless food TV shows as well. A camera crew will walk around looking for long lines to get into restaurants. They then sample the food and interview customers. The conclusion is always long line = really good product.
I’ve come to the conclusion that it is the line itself that draws the line and not the product. Potential absence is also a cause.
For instance, the above photo was taken outside of 太麺堂, a ramen shop that opened with the promise of being a temporary ramen shop only open until the end of 2009. I never walked past the place during business hours when there wasn’t a line. Usually the line was very long. They closed, as promised, at the end of the year with a sign thanking customers. A few weeks later, they opened again. The menu is the same, the hours are the same, the potential absence of the place is now gone, and so are the lines. I haven’t seen a single line for the place in the past month.
Wendy’s (the fast food burger place) had a store near Takadanobaba Station, a bit of it can be seen in the fourth picture in this entry. It was usually more than half empty and reeked of cigarette smoke on the inside. All Wendy’s in Japan closed at the end of 2009. However, the thought of Wendy’s closing caused a dramatic increase in their business despite the horrible smell and mediocre food. For the last few days of the year there was a line out the door to enter. Alas, the doors closed for good at midnight on December 31.
We walked past Wendy’s, on our way home, on New Year’s morning at 1:36 a.m. when I took the above photo. The Wendy’s signs had already been covered.
